BT  15 

.wa*^ 

1 

Warfi€ 

iid. 

Benjamin 

Breckinri 

.dge, 

1851- 

-1921. 

Faith 

and 

life 

FAITH  AND   LIFE 


'CONFERENCES'  IN  THE  ORATORY 
OF  PRINCETON  SEMINARY 


BY 


OCT  9r^  ] 


BENJAMIN    B.    WABFIELD 

PROFESSOR  IN  THE  SEMINARY 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND   CO. 

FOURTH  AVENUE  &  30th  STREET,  NEW  YORK 
39    PATERNOSTER   ROW,    LONDON 

BOMBAY,  CALCUTTA,  AND  MADRAS 

1916 


Copyright,   1916 
BY   BENJAMIN    B.    WARFIELD 


PRESIDENT   OF  WILSON  COLLEGE 
SOMETIME  PRESIDENT   OF  LAFAYETTE   COLLEGE 


A  BROTHER  BELOVED 
IN  THE  FLESH  AND  IN  THE  LORD 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


PAGE 

The  Cause  of  God  (1  Kings  19:9) 1 

Old  Testament  Religion  (Psalm  51:12) 14 

The  Wrath  of  Man  (Psalm  76:10) 24 

:    For  Christ's  Sake  (Matt.  5 :11) 32 

This-  and  Other-Worldliness  (Matt.  6:33) 43 

Light  and  Shining  (Mark  4 :31-35) 53 

;  Childlikeness  (Mark  10:15) 65 

"  The  Glory  of  the  Word  (Jno.  1 :1) 81 

Looking  to  Men  (Jno.  5 :44) 93 

y  A  Half -learned  Christ  (Jno.  6:68:69) 103 

The  Conviction  of  the  Spirit  (Jno.  16:8-11) 116 

Christ's  Prayer  for  His  People  (Jno  17:15) 128 

The  Outpouring  of  the  Spirit  (Acts  2:16,  17) 135 

Prayer  as  a  Means  of  Grace  (Acts  9:11) 146 

Surrender  and  Consecration  (Acts  22:10) 154 

,.  The  Summation  of  the  Gospel  (Acts  26:18) 165 

The  Spirit's  Testimony  to  Our  Sonship  (Rom  8:16) ....  179 

The  Spirit's  Help  in  Our  Praying  (Rom.  8:26,  27) 193 

All  Things  Working  Together  for  Good  (Rom.  8:28) 202 

Man's  Husbandry  and  God's  Bounty  (1  Cor.  3:5-9)..  .  .  211 
Communion  in  Christ's  Body  and  Blood    (1  Cor.  10:16 

-17) 222 

The  Spirit  of  Faith  (2  Cor.  4:13) 231 

-  New  Testament  Puritanism  (2  Cor.  6:11—7:1) 243 

^  Paul's  Great  Thanksgiving  (Eph.  1 :3-14) 259 

Spiritual  Strengthening  (Eph.  3:16) 267 

The  Fulness  of  God  (Eph.  3:19) 279 

The  Sealing  of  the  Holy  Spirit  (Eph  4:30) 289 

-7 Working  Out  Salvation  (Phil.  2:12,  13) 298 

vii 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The  Alien  Righteousness  (PhU.  3:9) 314 

Peace  With  God  (PhU.  4:7) 326 

The  Heritage  of  the  Saints  in  Light  (Col.  1  ;12) 340 

The  Hidden  Life  (Col.  3:1-4) 350 

Entire  Sanctifieation  (1  Thess.  5:23,  24) 361 

The  Mystery  of  Godliness  (1  Tim.  3:16) 373 

The  Inviolate  Deposit  (1  Tim.  6:20,  21) 385 

The  Way  of  Life  (Tit.  3:4-9) 393 

The  Eternal  Gospel  (2  Tim.  1:9,  10) 402 

Communion  with  Christ  (2  Tim.  2:11-13) 415 

Prayer  as  a  Practice  (James  5 :16) 428 

God's  Holmess  and  Ours  (1  Pet.  1 :15) 440 

Childship  to  God  (1  Jno.  2:28—3:1) 448 


n^HOSE  who  are  unfamiliar  with  the  life  of  Princeton  Theo- 
logical Seminary  and  desire  to  learn  something  of  the  nature 
and  the  early  history  of  the  "Conferences  "held  in  the  "Oratory" 
of  the  Seminary  may  be  referred  to  the  Life  of  Archibald  Alexander 
by  his  son,  James  W.  Alexander,  pp.  420  ff ;  the  Life  of  Samuel 
Miller  by  his  son,  Samuel  Miller,  vol.  ii,  p.  400;  and  the  Life 
of  Charles  Hodge  by  his  son,  A.  A.  Hodge,  pp.  453  ff ;  with  the 
last  of  which  may  be  compared  the  Preface  to  Conference  Ad- 
dresses by  Charles  Hodge. 


FAITH  AND  LIFE 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD 

1  Kings  19:9:   "  What  doest  thou  here,  Elijah?  " 

The  history  of  Elijah  suppHes  us  with  one  of 
the  most  striking,  and,  we  may  add,  one  of  the 
most  instructive,  sections  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. With  him  begins  the  wonderful  history 
of  Prophetism.  Through  him  we  obtain  a  glimpse 
which  we  would  not  willingly  lose  of  God's  deal- 
ings with  His  people:  His  faithfulness  to  them 
when  they  were  unfaithful  to  Him;  His  unre- 
mitting efforts  to  withdraw  them  from  sin  and 
keep  them  in  that  intimate  and  obedient  relation 
to  Him  in  which  alone  was  safety  to  be  found. 

At  first  sight  the  narrative  may  appear  ob- 
jective to  a  fault.  We  are  told  nothing  of  who 
Elijah  w^as,  how  he  had  been  trained,  whence  he 
came  as  he  passes  across  the  page  of  history. 
In  the  midst  of  Ahab's  wicked  rule  suddenly  he 
stands  before  the  idolatrous  King  and  pronounces 
the  curse  of  God,  which  for  his  sake  should  fall  on 
the  land  which  he  had  polluted  with  his  apostasy. 
And  as  suddenly  as  he  appears,  so  suddenly  he 
withdraws  again.     Hidden  at  Cherith  or  at  Zarep- 


g  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

hath  for  a  period  measured  by  years,  he  appears 
on  the  scene  of  public  history  once  again  as  un- 
expectedly and  as  much  a  messenger  from  on 
high  as  at  first.  Everywhere  he  goes  the  powers 
of  heaven  accompany  him,  and  his  appearances 
and  disappearances  are  almost  as  sudden  as  the 
bolts  of  heaven  themselves. 

But,  however  rapid  the  action,  and  however 
much,  at  first  view,  the  narrative  may  seem  to 
wear  the  appearance  of  objectivity;  however 
much  it  may  seem  to  be  concerned  only  with  the 
history  of  Israel  and  God's  endeavour  through  the 
words  and  works  of  His  prophet  to  awaken  His 
people  to  righteousness  and  rescue  them  from  the 
slough  of  their  idolatry;  the  story  of  Elijah  yet 
manages  to  be  primarily  and  above  all  else  the 
story  of  Elijah.  Somehow,  as  in  music  some- 
times a  secondary  strain  is  carried  on,  shot  through 
the  dominant  theme  of  the  composition,  in  har- 
mony with  it  and  yet  separable  from  it,  and  need- 
ing but  a  little  emphasizing  to  make  it  the  chief 
burden  of  the  whole;  so  within  the  bosom  of  this 
narrative  of  how  God  sent  His  prophet  to  Israel 
with  His  thunder-message  calling  it  back  to  the 
service  of  Him,  of  how  He  dealt  thus  faithfully 
with  His  people  and  sought  to  save  them  from 
themselves  and  for  Him,  there  lies,  not  hidden, 
but  embraced  and  preserved  for  us,  the  touching 
account  of  how  God  dealt  with  and  trained  the 
prophet  himself.     As  Jesus,  when  He  sat  in  the 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  3 

judgment  hall  of  Annas  offering  Himself  a  victim 
for  the  saving  of  the  world,  yet  had  time  to  turn 
a  significant  glance  upon  Peter  as  he  stood  deny- 
ing Him  before  the  courtyard  fire,  and  thus  saved 
His  poor  repentant  follower  in  the  saving  of  the 
world;  so  God  in  His  use  of  Elijah  for  the  teach- 
ing of  Israel  also  found  time  to  train  the  heart 
of  the  prophet  himself. 

These  chapters  are  crowded  with  teaching  for 
us.  We  must  select,  from  the  wealth  they  bring 
to  us,  some  one  thing  on  which  our  minds  may 
especially  dwell  to-day.  Let  it  be  this  instruc- 
tive element  in  them:  God's  way  of  training  His 
prophet.  Let  us  observe  in  the  case  of  Elijah 
how  God  dealt  with  him  in  His  grace  so  as  to 
bring  him  to  a  better  knowledge  of  himself,  of 
God  and  of  the  nature  of  the  work  to  which  he 
was  called.  When  once  we  approach  the  narra- 
tive with  this  purpose  in  view,  it  becomes  diflScult 
to  see  anything  else  in  it.  We  forget  Israel  in 
Elijah.  Israel  seems  only  the  instrument  upon 
which  and  by  means  of  which  Elijah's  heart  and 
soul  were  taught.  We  have  in  a  word  empha- 
sized the  subordinate  strain  until  it  becomes  domi- 
nant; and  the  very  possibility  of  this  is  a  clear 
proof  that  the  subordinate  strain  was  planted  in 
the  music  by  the  Great  Composer,  and  that  it  was 
meant  that  our  ears  should  hear  it. 

We  are  told,  we  say,  nothing  of  the  early  life, 
the  early  training,  or  directly,  of  the  character  of 


4  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Elijah.  He  appears  suddenly  before  us  as  the 
messenger  of  God's  wrath.  Like  his  great  anti- 
type— who  was  greater,  our  Lord  being  witness, 
than  even  he — he  is  a  voice  from  the  wilderness 
crying  the  one  word,  Repent!  He  is  the  human 
embodiment  of  the  wrath  of  God.  AMierever  he 
goes  destruction  accompanies  him.  Drought, 
fire  from  heaven,  floods  of  rain,  death  for  the  ene- 
mies of  God,  follow  hard  on  his  footsteps.  He  is 
embodied  law.  And  as  such  he  is  a  swift  witness 
against  his  people.  Obedience,  repentance,  strict 
account,  these  form  the  essence  of  his  message. 

God  chooses  appropriate  instruments  for  His 
work.  And  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 
sternness  of  Elijah's  mission  was  matched  by  the 
sternness  of  his  aspect  and  the  sternness  of  his 
character.  We  are  therefore  justified  in  having 
said  that  he  was,  not  merely  the  messenger  of 
God's  law  and  wrath,  but  their  embodiment.  He 
was  by  natural  disposition,  as  framed  under  prov- 
idential circumstances,  and  by  \artue  of  the  side 
of  God  which  he  had  as  yet  apprehended,  nothing 
loath  but  rather  naturally  inclined  to  act  as  the 
witness  of  God  against  his  people,  well-fitted  to 
call  down  the  vengeance  of  God  upon  them  and 
to  delight  in  the  overthrow  of  His  enemies.  He 
was  in  danger  of  thinking  of  God  only  as  a  law- 
giver and  the  just  avenger  of  His  wounded  honour. 
Hence  arose  the  necessity  of  the  training  of  the 
prophet.     Every  incident  of  his  career,  as  it  is 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  5 

recorded  for  us,  entered  into  this  training.  As 
we  cast  our  eye  over  it,  we  observe  that  what 
Elijah  needed  to  be  taught  was  (1)  dependence  on 
God;  (2)  fellowship  with  man  in  his  sufferings; 
(3)  confidence  in  God's  plans;  and  (4)  a  sense 
of  their  essential  and  broad  mercifulness. 

These  lessons  are  brought  home  to  him  by 
means  of  two  stupendous  miracles  over  nature, 
wrought  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  people 
that  Jehovah  and  He  alone  is  God, — so  closely 
intertwined  were  the  two  lines  of  Divine  work, 
the  training  of  the  people  and  the  training  of 
Elijah.  No  sooner  had  the  prophet  declared  to 
the  apostate  King  the  word  of  God  sent  to  him, 
"As  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel  liveth,  before 
whom  I  stand,  there  shall  not  be  dew  nor  rain 
these  years  but  according  to  my  word,"  than  a 
special  personal  message  came  from  the  Lord  to 
him  saying,  "Get  thee  hence,  and  turn  thee  east- 
ward, and  hide  thyself  by  the  brook  Cherith,  that  is 
before  Jordan.  And  it  shall  be  that  thou  shalt 
drink  of  the  brook,  and  I  have  commanded  the 
ravens  to  feed  thee  there."  Thus  it  was  brought 
about  that  both  Israel  and  Elijah  were  simul- 
taneously learning  the  lesson  of  the  littleness  of 
man  before  God.  But  diversely.  Israel  was 
learning  that  it  could  not  with  impunity  break 
God's  law;  Elijah  that  even  God's  servants  de- 
pend on  Him  for  their  every  want.  The  self- 
willed  nation  was  learning  to  submit  to  its  Lord; 


6  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  perhaps  too  self-confident  prophet  was  learn- 
ing the  weakness  of  flesh  and  man's  utter  depend- 
ence on  his  Maker. 

In  the  silence  of  the  wilderness,  hidden  in  one 
of  those  torrent-clefts  which  fall  into  the  Jordan 
valley,  Elijah  was  dependent  on  God's  hand  for 
his  daily  food;  on  the  water  which  flowed  at 
first  in  quantities  full  enough  for  his  needs  over 
the  rocks  of  the  brook's  bed,  but  gradually  grew 
less  and  less  until  it  trickled  in  drops  scarcely 
numerous  enough  to  moisten  his  parched  lips; 
on  food  brought  to  him  by  the  unclean  ravens. 
Thus  gradually  he  learned  to  sympathize  with  his 
suffering  fellows  and  to  rest  on  God.  It  was  meet 
that  he  who  seemed  to  have  the  dominion  of  the 
heavens  in  his  hands,  who  prayed  that  it  should 
not  rain  and  it  rained  not,  should  share  in  the 
want  which  resulted;  and  should  learn  to  sym- 
pathize with  poor  suffering,  even  if  sinful,  human- 
ity, like  that  greater  one  who  was  yet  to  come  and 
learn  also  how  to  sympathize  with  us  through  His 
participation  in  our  griefs.  How  fully  he  learned 
his  lesson  the  subsequent  narrative  tells  us  in  the 
beautiful  story  of  his  dealings  with  the  widow  of 
Zarephath  with  her  cruse  and  barrel,  and  her  sick 
and  dying  child — one  of  the  most  Christlike  nar- 
ratives among  all  the  Old  Testament  miracles. 
Thus  then  as  Israel  was  prepared  for  repentance, 
the  prophet  was  prepared  inwardly  to  be  a  fit 
messenger    to    his    suffering    brethren,   bringing 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  7 

them  relief  from  their  sore  affliction.  We  re- 
peat it,  God  sends  His  messages  by  fit  instru- 
ments. 

And  so,  in  due  time,  Elijah  comes  to  bring  the 
famished  land  relief.  We  all  remember  the  story 
of  the  tremendous  scene  wherein  Elijah — the 
"prodigious"  Tishbite,  as  an  old  author  calls 
him — challenges  the  prophets  of  Baal  to  meet  him 
in  a  contest  of  worship  on  Carmel,  and  defeats 
them  by  simply  calling  on  his  God;  and  then 
draws  down  rain  on  the  parched  ground  by  the 
almighty  virtue  of  his  prayer.  No  scene  of  higher 
dramatic  power  is  to  be  found  in  all  the  world's 
literature.  As  we  read,  we  see  the  prophet  ruling 
on  the  mount;  we  see  him  bent  in  prayer  on  the 
deserted  summit;  we  see  him  when,  the  hand  of 
God  upon  him,  he  girded  up  his  victorious  loins 
and  ran  before  the  chariot  of  Ahab,  the  sixteen 
miles  through  the  driving  storm,  from  Carmel 
to  Jezreel.  No  scene  we  may  say  could  have 
been  more  nicely  fitted  to  his  mind  or  to  his  nature. 
Here  the  king  of  men  was  king  indeed  and  his  vic- 
tory seemed  complete.  But  God's  children  must 
suffer  for  their  triumphs.  Were  there  no  thorns 
in  the  flesh,  messengers  of  Satan,  sent  of  God  to 
buffet  them,  there  would  be  no  one  of  men  who 
could  serve  the  Lord  in  the  scenes  of  His  triumph 
without  grave  danger  to  his  own  soul.  And 
Elijah  needed  to  learn  other  lessons  yet.  He 
needed  to  learn  that  God's  victories  are  not  of  the 


8  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

external  sort  and  are  not  to  be  won  by  the  weapons 
of  men. 

How  quickly  after  the  triumph  comes  the  mo- 
ment of  dismay.  "And  Ahab  told  Jezebel,"  says 
the  simple  narrative,  "all  that  Elijah  had  done, 
and  withal,  how  he  had  slain  the  prophets  with 
the  sword.  Then  Jezebel  sent  a  messenger  unto 
Elijah,  saying,  *So  let  the  gods  do  to  me  and  more 
also,  if  I  make  not  thy  life  as  the  life  of  one  of 
them  by  to-morrow  about  this  time.'  And  when 
he  saw  that,  he  arose  and  went  for  his  life  and  came 
to  Beersheba."  Thus,  Elijah  has  his  lesson  to 
learn  again  after  his  miracle.  We  need  not  won- 
der at  his  sudden  flight.  It  is  the  price  that  strong, 
fervent  spirits  pay  for  their  very  strength,  that 
they  suffer  a  correspondingly  strong  reaction.  So 
it  was  with  the  prophet's  antitype,  John  the  Bap- 
tist, when  in  the  prison  he  lost  his  faith  and  sent 
to  ask  Him  whom  God  had  Himself  pointed  out 
to  him  on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  whether,  indeed, 
He  was  the  Coming  One.  So  it  was  with  Peter 
also,  who  could  venture  on  the  waves,  but  only 
to  cry,  "Lord  save  me,  I  perish";  who  could 
draw  his  sword  and  smite  the  High  Priest's  ser- 
vant, but  only  at  once  to  deny  his  Lord  at  the 
challenge  of  a  servant  maid.  So  now  it  was  with 
Elijah.  God's  hand  had  been  outstretched  at  his 
call.  He  had  shut  up  the  heavens  at  his  bidding 
and  had  nourished  him  at  Cherith  and  given  him 
miraculous    sustenance    at    Zarephath,    and    the 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  9 

widow's  son  back  from  the  grave.  He  had  sent 
down  His  fire  from  heaven  and  dehVered  the 
priests  of  Baal  into  his  hand  and  opened  the 
heavens  at  his  prayer.  But  Elijah  could  not 
trust  God,  now,  to  deliver  him  from  a  woman's 
hate;  and  that,  although  her  very  message  bore 
in  it  the  betrayal  of  her  weakness. 

Was  there  not  a  deeper  spring  for  this  distrust 
still.?  With  all  his  training,  Elijah  did  not  as 
yet  know  his  God.  His  life  had  fallen  on  evil 
days,  times  of  violence  that  demanded  violent 
remedies  for  their  diseases.  And  he  could  not 
beheve  in  the  efficacy  of  any  but  violent  remedies. 
Fresh  from  Carmel  and  the  slaughter  of  the  priests 
he  was  impatient  of  the  contuiuance  of  evil,  and 
expected  the  miracles  of  Carmel  to  be  but  the 
harbinger  of  the  greater  miracle  of  the  conversion 
of  the  people  to  God  in  a  day.  \Mien  Elijah 
awoke  on  the  morrow  and  found  Israel  altogether 
as  it  had  been  yesterday,  he  was  dismayed.  Had 
then  the  triumph  of  yesterday  been  as  nothing.? 
Was  Jezebel  still  to  lord  it  over  God's  heritage? 
What  then  availed  it  that  the  fire  had  fallen  from 
heaven?  That  the  false  priests'  blood  had  flowed 
like  water?  That  the  rain  had  come  at  his  bid- 
ding? Was  the  hand  of  God  outstretched  only 
to  be  withdrawn  again?  Elijah  loses  heart  be- 
cause God's  ways  were  not  as  his  ways.  He  can- 
not understand  God's  secular  modes  of  working; 
and,  conceiving  of  His  ways  as  sudden  and  mirac- 


10  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ulous  only,  he  feels  that  the  Most  High  has  de- 
serted His  cause  and  His  servants.  He  almost 
feels  bitter  towards  the  Lord  who  had  let  him 
begin  a  work  which  He  leaves  him  without  power 
to  complete.  Hence  Elijah  must  go  to  the  wil- 
derness to  learn  somewhat  of  the  God  he  serves. 
After  his  first  miracle  of  closing  the  heavens,  he 
learned  what  man  was  in  his  sufferings  and  in  his 
needs.  Now  he  has  opened  the  heavens  and  is  to 
learn  what  God  is  and  what  are  the  modes  of  His 
working  and  the  nature  of  His  plans. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  purpose  of  God  in 
leading  the  prophet  into  the  wilderness;  nor  the 
import  of  the  teaching  He  gives  him  there.  The 
disheartened  prophet,  despairing  of  the  cause  of 
God  because  all  things  had  not  turned  out  as  he 
had  anticipated,  throws  himself  on  the  desert 
sands  to  die.  But  there  God  visits  him;  and  leads 
him  on  to  Horeb,  where  the  Law  had  been  given, 
where  it  had  been  granted  to  Moses  to  see  God's 
glory,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  Lord  God,  mer- 
ciful and  gracious,  slow  to  anger  and  plenteous  in 
mercy  and  truth.  Reaching  the  Mount  the 
stricken  prophet  seeks  a  cave  and  lodges  in  it. 
And  then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him  with 
the  searching  question,  '*  What  doest  thou  here, 
Elijah.^  "  We  do  not  need  to  doubt  that  there 
was  reproof  in  the  question;  but  surely  it  is  not 
reproof  but  searching  inquiry  that  forms  its  main 
contents.     The  Lord  had  Himself  led  Elijah  here. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  11 

for  his  lesson.     And  now  the  Lord  probes  him 
with  the  deepest  of  questions. 

After  all,  why  was  Elijah  there?  The  question 
calls  for  reflection;  and  reflection  which  will  bring 
light  with  self-condemnation;  and  with  the  self- 
condemnation,  also  self -instruction.  "  What  doest 
thou  here,  Elijah?  "  The  honest  soul  of  the  prophet 
gives  back  the  transparent  truth:  "I  have  been 
very  jealous"  .  .  .  and  so  on.  Here  we  see  dis- 
trust in  God  and  despair  of  His  cause;  almost 
complaint  of  God,  for  not  guarding  His  cause  bet- 
ter; nay,  more,  almost  complaint  of  God  that  He 
had  left  His  servant  in  the  lurch.  The  Lord  deals 
very  graciously  with  His  servant.  There  is  no 
need  now  of  reproof;  only  the  simple  command 
to  go  forth  and  stand  upon  the  mount  before  the 
Lord.  And  then  the  Lord  passed  by;  first  a 
great,  strong  wind  rent  the  mountains  and  brake 
in  pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lord;  but  it  was 
not  in  the  wind  that  the  Lord  was.  And  after 
the  wind,  an  earthquake;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in 
the  earthquake.  And  after  the  earthquake,  fire; 
but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire.  And  after  the 
fire,  a  sound  of  gentle  stillness.  Elijah  does  not 
now  need  to  be  told  where  the  Lord  is.  The 
terror  of  the  storm,  of  the  earthquake,  and  of  the 
flame,  is  as  nothing  to  the  awesomeness  of  the 
gentle  stillness.  "And  it  was  so,  when  Elijah 
heard  it,  that  he  wrapped  his  face  in  his  mantle, 
and  went  out  and  stood  in  the  entering  in  of  the 


12  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

cave."  Did  he  already  begin  to  suspect  that  he 
had  mistaken  the  storm  that  goes  before  Jehovah 
for  Jehovah's  self?  The  terror  of  the  law  for  the 
very  hand  of  Him  whose  essence  is  love?  The 
terrible  preparation  for  the  Gospel  for  the  Gospel 
itself?  But  there  is  still  no  word  of  direct  instruc- 
tion. Only  the  old  question  still  sounds  in  his 
ears.  "And  behold  there  came  a  voice  to  him 
and  said  *What  doest  thou  here,  Elijah?'"  To  it 
he  returns  the  same  answer  as  before;  but  surely 
in  deep  humility  of  spirit.  Be  that  as  it  may,  how- 
ever, the  Lord  proceeds  to  tell  him  that  He  has 
yet  work  for  him  to  do  and  sends  him  back  with 
instructions  which  imply  that  there  is  a  long  future 
for  the  fruition  of  His  plans.  And  whether  at 
once  or  more  slowly  we  cannot  doubt  that  the 
lesson  had  its  effect  and  Elijah  learned  not  to 
lose  hope  in  God's  cause  because  God's  ways  in 
accomplishing  it  are  not  our  ways. 

How  full  all  this  is  of  lessons  to  us!  Let  us  at 
least  not  fail  to  learn  from  it:  (1)  That  the  cause 
of  God  does  not  depend  on  our  single  arm  to  save 
it.  "I,  I  only,  am  left,"  said  Elijah,  as  if  on  him 
alone  could  God  depend  to  secure  His  ends.  We 
depend  on  God,  not  God  on  us.  (2)  That  the 
cause  of  God  is  not  dependent  for  its  success  on 
our  chosen  methods.  Elijah  could  not  under- 
stand that  the  ends  of  God  could  be  gained  unless 
they  were  gained  in  the  path  of  miracles  of  mani- 
fest judgment.     External  methods  are  not  God's 


THE  CAUSE  OF  GOD  13 

methods.  (3)  That  the  cause  of  God  cannot  fail. 
EHjah  feared  that  God's  hand  was  not  outstretched 
to  save  and  fancied  that  he  knew  the  dangers  and 
needs  better  than  God  did.  God  never  deserts 
His  cause.  (4)  That  it  is  not  the  Law  but  the 
Gospel,  not  the  revelation  of  wrath  but  that  of 
love,  which  saves  the  world.  Wrath  may  pre- 
pare for  love;  but  wrath  never  did  and  never  will 
save  a  soul. 

We  close  then,  with  a  word  of  warning  and  one 
of  encouragement.  The  word  of  warning:  We 
must  not  identify  our  cause  with  God's  cause; 
our  methods  with  God's  methods;  or  our  hopes 
with  God's  purposes.  The  word  of  encourage- 
ment: God's  cause  is  never  in  danger;  what  He 
has  begun  in  the  soul  or  in  the  world,  He  will  com- 
plete unto  the  end. 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION 

Psa.  51:12:  "Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation." 

"And  David  said  unto  Nathan,  I  have  sinned 
against  the  Lord.  And  Nathan  said  unto  David, 
The  Lord  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin."  It  may  al- 
most seem  that  David  escaped  from  his  crime  too 
easily.  We  may  read  the  narrative  and  fail  to 
observe  the  signs  of  that  deep  contrition  which 
such  hideous  wickedness  when  once  recognized 
surely  must  engender.  There  is  the  story  of  the 
sin  drawn  in  all  its  shocking  details.  Then  Nathan 
comes  in  with  his  beautiful  apologue  of  the  ewe- 
lamb,  and  its  pungent  application.  And  then  we 
read  simply:  "And  David  said  unto  Nathan,  I 
have  sinned  against  The  Lord.  And  Nathan  said 
unto  David,  The  Lord  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin." 
After  that  comes  only  the  story  of  how  the  child 
of  sin  was  smitten,  and  how  David  besought  the 
Lord  for  its  life  and  finally  acquiesced  in  the 
Divine  judgment.  One  is  apt  to  feel  that  David 
was  more  concerned  to  escape  the  consequences 
of  his  sin  than  to  yield  to  the  Lord  the  sacrifices  of 
a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart.  Does  it  not  seem 
cold  to  us  and  external,  David's  simple  acknowl- 
edgment of  his  sin,  and  the  Lord's  immediate  re- 
mission of  it?     We  feel  the  lack  of  the  manifesta- 

14 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION  15 

tions  of  a  deeply  repentant  spirit,  and  are  almost 
ready,  we  say,  to  wonder  if  David  did  not  escape 
too  easily  from  the  evil  he  had  wrought. 

It  is  merely  the  simplicity  of  the  narrative 
which  is  deceiving  us  in  this.  The  single-hearted 
writer  expects  us  to  read  into  the  bare  words  of 
David's  confession,  "  I  have  sinned  against  the 
Lord,"  all  the  spiritual  exercises  which  those  words 
are  fitted  to  suggest  and  out  of  which  they  should 
have  grown.  And  if  we  find  it  a  little  difficult  to  do 
so,  we  have  only  to  turn  to  David's  penitential 
Psalms,  to  learn  the  depths  of  repentance  which 
wrung  this  great  and  sensitive  soul.  One  of  them 
— perhaps  the  most  penetrating  portrayal  of  a  truly 
penitent  soul  ever  cast  into  human  speech — is 
assigned  by  its  title  to  just  this  crisis  In  his  life; 
and  I  see  no  good  reason  why  this  assignment 
need  be  questioned.  The  whole  body  of  them 
sound  the  depths  of  the  sinful  soul's  self-torment 
and  longing  for  recovery  as  can  be  found  nowhere 
else  in  literature;  and  taken  in  sequence  present 
a  complete  portrayal  of  the  course  of  repentance 
in  the  heart,  from  its  inception  in  the  rueful  review 
of  the  past  and  the  remorseful  biting  back  of  the 
awakened  heart,  through  its  culmination  in  a  true 
return  to  God  In  humble  love  and  trusting  confi- 
dence, to  its  issue  in  the  establishment  of  a  new 
relation  of  obedience  to  God  and  a  new  richness 
of  grateful  service  to  Him. 

Let  us  take  just  these  four.  Psalms  6,  38,  51,  32. 


16  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

In  Psa.  6  sounds  the  note  of  remorse — it  is  the 
torment  of  a  soul's  perception  of  its  sin  that  is 
here  prominently  brought  to  our  most  poignant 
observation.  In  Psa.  38,  the  note  of  hope — not 
indeed  absent  even  from  Psa.  6 — becomes  dom- 
inant and  the  sorrow  and  hatred  of  sin  is  coloured 
by  a  pervasive  tone  of  relief.  In  Psa.  51,  while 
there  is  no  lessening  of  the  accent  of  repentance 
there  is  along  with  the  deep  sense  of  the  guilt  and 
pollution  of  sin  which  is  expressed  also  a  note  of 
triumph  over  the  sin,  which  aspires  to  a  clean 
heart  and  a  steadfast  spirit  and  a  happy  service 
of  God  in  purity  of  life.  While  in  Psa.  32,  the 
sense  of  forgiveness,  the  experience  of  joy  in  the 
Lord,  and  the  exercises  of  holy  and  joyful  service 
overlie  all  else.  Here  we  trace  David's  penitent 
soul  through  all  its  experiences;  his  remorseful 
contemplation  of  his  own  sin,  his  passionate  reach- 
ing out  to  the  salvation  of  God,  the  gradual  re- 
turn of  his  experience  of  the  joy  of  that  salvation, 
his  final  issuing  into  the  full  glory  of  its  complete 
realization. 

In  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  of  this 
remarkable  body  of  pictures  of  the  inner  experi- 
ences of  a  penitent  soul,  is  that  of  Psa.  51.  It 
draws  away  the  veil  for  us  and  permits  us  to  look 
in  upon  the  spirit  in  the  most  characteristic  act 
of  repentance,  just  at  the  turning  point,  as  it  de- 
serts its  sin  and  turns  to  God.  Here  is  revealed 
to  us  a  sense  of  sin  so  poignant,  a  perception  of  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION  17 

grace  of  God  so  soaring,  an  apprehension  of  the 
completeness  of  the  revolution  required  in  sinful 
man  that  he  may  become  in  any  worthy  sense  a 
servant  of  God  so  profound,  that  one  wonders  in 
reading  it  what  is  left  for  a  specifically  Christian 
experience  to  add  to  this  experience  of  a  saint  of 
God  under  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  in 
turning  from  sin  to  God.  The  wonderful  depth 
of  the  religious  experience  and  the  remarkable 
richness  of  religious  conception  embodied  in  this 
Psalm  have  indeed  proved  a  snare  to  the  critics. 
"David  could  not  have  had  these  ideas,"  says 
Prof.  T.  C.  Cheyne,  brusquely;  and,  indeed,  the 
David  that  Prof.  Cheyne  has  constructed  out  of 
his  imaginary  reconstruction  of  the  course  of  re- 
ligious development  in  Israel,  could  not  well  have 
had  these  ideas.  These  are  distinctively  Chris- 
tian ideas  that  the  Psalm  sets  forth,  and  they 
could  not  have  grown  up  of  themselves  in  a  purely 
natural  heart.  And  therein  lies  one  of  the  values 
of  the  Psalm  to  us;  it  reveals  to  us  the  essentially 
Christian  type  of  the  religion  of  Israel;  it  opens 
to  our  observation  the  contents  of  the  mind  and 
heart  of  a  Spirit-led  child  of  God  in  the  ages  agone, 
and  makes  us  to  know  the  truly  Christian  charac- 
ter of  his  experiences  in  his  struggle  with  sin  and 
his  aspirations  towards  God,  and  thus  also  to 
iJnow  the  supernatural  leading  of  God's  people 
through  all  ages. 

For  consider  for  a  moment  the  conception  of 


18  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

God  which  throbs  through  all  the  passionate  lan- 
guage of  this  Psalm.  A  God  of  righteousness 
who  will  not  look  upon  sin  with  allowance;  nay, 
who  directs  all  things,  even  the  emergence  of  acts 
of  sin  in  His  world,  so  that  He  may  not  only  be 
just,  but  also  "may  be  justified  when  He  speaks 
and  clear  when  He  judges."  A  God  of  holiness 
whose  Spirit  cannot  abide  in  our  impure  hearts. 
A  God  of  unbounded  power,  who  governs  the 
whole  course  of  events  in  accordance  with  His 
own  counsels.  But  above  all,  a  gracious  God,  full 
of  lovingkindness,  abundant  in  compassion,  whose 
delight  is  in  salvation.  There  is  nothing  here 
which  goes  beyond  the  great  revelation  of  Ex. 
34:6,  "a  God  full  of  compassion  and  gracious, 
abundant  in  lovingkindness  and  truth;  keeping 
lovingkindness  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity 
and  transgression  and  sin."  Indeed  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Psalm  is  obviously  modelled  on  this 
of  Exodus.  But  here  it  is  not  given  from  the  lips 
of  Jehovah,  proclaiming  His  character,  but  re- 
turned to  us  from  the  heart  of  the  repentant  sin- 
ner, recounting  the  nature  of  the  God  with  whom 
he  has  to  do. 

And  what  a  just  and  profound  sense  of  sin  is 
revealed  to  us  here.  The  synonymy  of  the  sub- 
ject is  almost  exhausted  in  the  effort  to  complete 
the  self -accusation.  "My  transgression,  my  in- 
iquity, my  sin;"  I  have  been  in  rebellion  against 
God,  I  have  distorted  my  life,  I  have  missed  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION  19 

mark;   I  have,  to  express  it  all,  done  what  is  evil 
in  Thy  sight — in  the  sight  of  Thee,  the  Standard 
of  Holiness,  the  hypostatized  Law  of  Conduct. 
And  these  acts  are  but  the  expression  of  an  inner 
nature  of  corruption,  inherited  from  those  who 
have  gone  before  me;    it  was  in  iniquity  that  I 
was  born,  in  sin  that  my  mother  conceived  me. 
Shall  a  pure  thing  come  from  an  impure?     Nay, 
my  overt  acts  of  sin  are  thought  of  not  in  them- 
selves but  as  manifestations  of  what  is  behind 
and  within;   thrown  up  into  these  manifestations 
in   act,   in   Thine   own   ordinance,   for  no   other 
cause  than  that  Thy  righteous  condemnation  on 
me  may  be  justified  and  thy  judgment  be  made 
clear.     For  it  is  not  cleanness  of  act  merely  that 
Thou  dost  desire,  but  truth  in  the  inward  parts 
and  wisdom  in  the  hidden  parts.     Obviously  the 
Psalmist  is  conceiving  sin  here  as  not  confined  to 
acts  but  consisting  essentially  of  a  great  ocean  of 
sin  within  us,  whose  waves  merely  break  in  sinful 
acts.     No  wonder  the  commentators  remark  that 
here  we  have  original  sin  "more  distinctly  ex- 
pressed than  in  any  other  passage  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament."    Nothing  is  left  to  be  added  by  the 
later  revelation  in  the  way  of  poignancy  of  con- 
ception— though  much  is,  of  course,  left  to  be 
added  in  developed  statement. 

Accordingly,  the  conception  of  the  radicalness 
of  the  operation  required  for  the  Psalmist's  de- 
liverance from  sin,  is  equally  developed.     No  sur- 


20  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

face  remedy  will  suffice  to  eradicate  a  sin  which  is 
thus  inborn,  ingrained  in  nature  itself.  Hence  the 
passionate  cry:  Create — it  requires  nothing  less 
than  a  creative  act — create  me  a  clean  heart — 
the  heart  is  the  totality  of  the  inner  life — and 
make  new  within  me  a  constant  spirit — a  spirit 
which  will  no  more  decline  from  Thee.  Nothing 
less  than  this  will  suffice — a  total  rebegetting  as 
the  New  Testament  would  put  it;  an  entire  mak- 
ing over  again  can  alone  suffice  to  make  such  an 
one  as  the  Psalmist  knows  himself  to  be — not  by 
virtue  of  his  sins  of  act  which  are  only  the  mani- 
festation of  what  he  is  by  nature,  but  by  virtue 
of  his  fundamental  character — acceptable  to  Him 
who  desires  truth  in  the  inward  part;  nay,  noth- 
ing less  than  this  can  secure  to  him  that  stead- 
fastness of  spirit  which  will  save  his  overt  acts 
from  shame. 

Nor  does  the  Psalmist  expect  to  be  able,  un- 
aided, to  live  in  the  power  of  his  new  life.  One 
of  the  remarkable  features  of  the  doctrinal  sys- 
tem of  the  Psalm  is  the  clear  recognition  it  gives 
of  the  necessity,  for  the  cleansing  of  the  life,  of  the 
constant  presence  and  activity  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
"Take  not  thy  holy  Spirit  from  me  and  uphold 
me  with  a  spirit  of  willingness."  Thine  to  lead, 
mine  to  follow.  Not  autonomy  but  obedience, 
the  ideal  of  the  religious  life.  The  operations 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  sphere  of  the  moral  life, 
the  ethical  activities  of  the  Spirit,  His  sanctifying 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION  21 

work,  are  but  little  adverted  to  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  when  alluded  to,  it  is  chiefly  in 
promises  for  the  Messianic  period.  Here,  David 
not  merely  prays  for  them  in  his  own  case,  but 
announces  them  as  part  of  the  experience  of  the 
past  and  present.  His  chance  of  standing,  he 
says  in  effect,  hangs  on  the  continued  presence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in  him;  in  the  up- 
holding within  him  thereby  of  a  spirit  of  wiUing- 
ness. 

Thus  we  perceive  that  in  its  conception  of  God, 
of  sin,  of  salvation  alike,  this  Psalm  stands  out 
as  attaining  the  high-water  mark  of  Old  Testa- 
ment revelation.  It  was  by  a  hard  pathway  that 
David  came  to  know  God  and  himself  so  inti- 
mately. But  he  came  thus  to  know  both  his 
own  heart  and  the  God  of  grace  with  a  fullness 
and  profundity  of  apprehension  that  it  will  be 
hard  to  parallel  elsewhere.  And  it  was  no  merely 
external  knowledge  that  he  acquired  thus.  It 
was  the  knowledge  of  experience.  David  knew 
sin  because  he  had  touched  the  unclean  thing 
and  sounded  the  depths  of  iniquity.  He  knew 
himself  because  he  had  gone  his  own  way  and  had 
learned  through  what  thickets  and  morasses  that 
pathway  led,  and  what  was  its  end.  And  he 
knew  God,  because  he  had  tasted  and  seen  that 
the  Lord  is  gracious.  Yes,  David  had  tasted 
and  seen  God's  preciousness.  David  had  ex- 
perience of  salvation.     He  knew  what  salvation 


22  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

was,  and  He  knew  its  joy.  But  never  had  he 
known  the  joy  of  salvation  as  he  knew  it  after 
he  had  lost  it.  And  it  is  just  here  that  the  spe- 
cial poignancy  of  David's  repentance  comes  in: 
it  was  not  the  repentance  of  a  sinner  merely,  it 
was  the  repentance  of  a  sinning  saint. 

It  is  only  the  saint  who  knows  what  sin  is;  for 
only  the  saint  knows  it  in  contrast  with  salva- 
tion, experienced  and  understood.  And  it  is  only 
the  sinning  saint  who  knows  what  salvation  is: 
for  it  is  only  the  joy  that  is  lost  and  then  found 
again  that  is  fully  understood.  The  depths  of 
David's  knowledge,  the  poignancy  of  his  con- 
ceptions— of  God,  and  sin,  and  salvation — car- 
rying him  far  beyond  the  natural  plane  of  his 
time  and  the  development  of  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  Israel,  may  be  accounted  for,  it 
would  seem,  by  these  facts.  He  who  had  known 
the  salvation  of  God  and  basked  in  its  joy,  came 
to  know  through  his  dreadful  sin  what  sin  is, 
and  its  terrible  entail;  and  through  this  horrible 
experience,  to  know  what  the  joy  of  salvation  is — 
the  joy  which  he  had  lost  and  only  through  the 
goodness  of  God  could  hope  to  have  restored. 
In  the  biting  pain  of  his  remorse,  it  all  becomes 
clear  to  him.  His  sinful  nature  is  revealed  to 
him;  and  the  goodness  of  God;  his  need  of  the 
Spirit;  the  joy  of  acceptance  with  God;  the  de- 
light of  abiding  with  Him  in  His  house.  Hence 
his    profound    disgust    at    himself;    his    passion- 


OLD  TESTAMENT  RELIGION  23 

ate  longing  for  that  purity  without  which  he 
could  not  see  God.  And  hence  his  culminat- 
ing prayer:  "Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy 
salvation." 


THE  WRATH  OF  MAN 

Psa.  76:10: — "Surely  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee." 

The  Seventy-sixth  Psalm  is  represented  by  a 
very  old  tradition — it  is  already  embodied  in  the 
Septuagint  version — as  a  hymn  of  praise  to  God 
for  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib.  There  is  no 
reason  why  this  tradition  may  not  be  supposed  to 
preserve  the  truth.  But  its  truth  or  falsehood 
does  not  particularly  concern  us.  The  Psalm 
was  in  any  case  written  upon  some  such  occasion 
as  the  destruction  of  Sennacherib.  It  celebrates 
a  great  deliverance  wrought  by  the  power  of  God; 
a  deliverance  beyond  all  expectation,  wrought  by 
God  alone.  The  essence  of  its  representation  is 
that  Jehovah  is  a  man  of  war,  above  all  comparison 
great.  When  He  enters  the  field,  all  the  machin- 
ery of  conflict  stops.  The  lightning-like  arrows 
which  fly  from  the  bow  cease  in  their  courses; 
the  shield  and  the  sword  fall  helpless  to  the  ground; 
the  stoutest-hearted  with  their  chariots  and  horses 
drop  into  the  inactivity  of  death.  For  Jehovah 
is  terrible.  None  can  stand  before  Him  when 
His  wrath  begins  to  bum  but  a  little. 

As  the  Psalmist  contemplates  the  certain  de- 
struction that  befalls  all  the  foes  of  Israel,  when 
Jehovah  speaks,  he  rises  from  the  particular  to 

24 


THE  WRATH  OF  MAN  25 

the  general.  He  proclaims  the  praises  of  the 
eternal  and  universal  providence  of  God,  as  it  is 
illustrated  in  the  great  fact  that  even  the  most 
violent  passions  of  men  are  under  His  control, 
and  conduce  only  to  the  fulfilment  of  His  ends. 
"Surely,"  he  cries,  "the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise 
Thee,  and  the  residue  of  wrath  Thou  wilt  restrain," 
or  "the  residue  of  wrath  wilt  Thou  gird  upon 
Thee."  The  fundamental  sense  is  that  the  ebul- 
litions of  the  wrath  of  man,  however  violent  and 
outbreaking  they  may  be,  are,  nevertheless,  like 
all  else  that  occurs,  under  the  complete  control  of 
God  and  are  employed  by  Him  as  instruments  for 
working  out  His  ends.  Like  all  else  that  comes  to 
pass,  then,  they  illustrate  God's  glory.  For  the 
rest,  the  passage  teaches,  according  as  we  con- 
strue the  last  half  of  the  verse,  either  that  all  the 
wrath  of  man  which  would  not  conduce  to  the 
divine  glory  God  restrains  and  does  not  permit 
to  manifest  itself  in  action,  so  that  the  complete- 
ness of  His  control  over  man's  wrath  is  what  is 
emphasized;  or  else,  that  after  all  the  wrath  of 
man  raging  in  its  utmost  fury  has  exhausted  itself 
in  vain  struggles  against  the  rising  wrath  of  Je- 
hovah, there  remains  to  Jehovah,  in  opposition 
to  it,  the  fullness  of  wrath,  with  which  He  girds 
Himself  for  action,  so  that  the  resistless  might  of 
Jehovah  as  over  against  the  puny  weakness  of 
man  is  what  is  emphasized.  We  need  not  now 
attempt  to  decide  between  the  two  interpreta- 


26  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tions;  it  is  enough  to  fix  our  minds  on  the  main 
declaration — this  to  wit:  that  the  wrath  of  man 
also  is  under  divine  control,  and  it  too,  like  all 
else  that  occurs  in  the  world,  conduces  only  to 
the  divine  glory. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remind  ourselves  of  this  great 
fact  in  a  time  like  this.  It  may  seem  to  us  as  if 
the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up 
and  the  world  were  on  the  point  of  being  over- 
whelmed by  the  violence  of  human  passion.  Men 
seem  to  have  broken  away  from  the  government 
of  conscience,  and  even  from  the  guidance  of  the 
common  instincts  of  humanity.  The  whole  earth 
appears  to  have  become  a  churning  mass  of  rage. 
We  see  millions  of  our  fellow-creatures  flying  at 
one  another's  throats  in  a  ruthless  struggle,  and 
whole  countries  harried  and  reduced  to  ruin. 
Up  from  the  battle-fields,  and  up  from  the  v;asted 
lands  behind  the  battle-fields,  rise  only  cries  of 
rage  and  despair.  It  is  good  for  us  to  remember 
that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigns  over  all. 
That  all  this  welter  of  blood  and  iron  He  holds 
well  in  hand.  That  none  of  it  would  have  oc- 
curred without  His  direction;  that  nothing  can 
occur  in  it  apart  from  His  appointment;  and  I  do 
not  say  merely  that  He  will  overrule  it  all  for 
His  glory,  but  that  all  of  it  will  conduce  to  His 
praise.  For,  "surely  the  wrath  of  man  is  to  Him 
for  praise,  and  the  remainder  of  wraths  will  He 
restrain." 


THE  WRATH  OF  MAN  27 

It  may  be  hard  for  us  to  understand  or  even  to 
believe  it — for  our  sight  is  dim  and  the  range  of 
our  vision  is  narrow — but  all  things  work  together 
under  God's  governing  hand  for  good.  Even  the 
things  which  in  themselves  are  evil,  in  all  their 
workings  work  together  for  good  in  this  world  of 
ours;  for  it  is  God's  world  after  all,  and  He  is  the 
Governor  of  it,  and  He  governs  it  for  good,  and 
that  continually.  John  Calvin  reminds  us  that 
though  Satan  may  rage  about  like  a  roaring  lion 
seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  yet  he  has  a  bit  in 
his  mouth  and  it  is  God  who  holds  the  reins. 
"Oh,  Assyrian,  the  rod  of  My  anger,"  cries  Je- 
hovah. It  was  for  his  own  ends — lust  of  con- 
quest, delight  in  power —  that  the  Assyrian  on  his 
part  was  doing  it.  He  knew  not  that  he  was  but 
the  instrument  in  God's  hands  for  working  higher 
ends,  and  that  when  they  were  secured,  the  sword 
would  drop  from  his  inert  fingers  and  he  would 
himself  fall  on  sleep.  "Glorious  art  Thou  and 
excellent,"  sings  the  Psalmist,  "more  than  the 
mountains  of  prey:  the  stout-hearted  are  made  a 
spoil,  they  have  slept  their  sleep;  and  none  of  the 
men  of  might  have  found  their  hands.  At  thy 
rebuke,  O  God  of  Jacob,  both  chariot  and  horse 
are  cast  into  a  dead  sleep."  In  the  midst  of  the 
turmoil  of  war,  let  us  remember  that  war  too  is  of 
God,  and  that  it,  too,  will  in  His  hands  work  for 
good:  that  even  the  wrath  of  man  shall  be  to 
Him  for  praise. 


28  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

But  there  is  more  than  even  this  in  the  Psalm 
for  our  learning,  at  least  by  implication.  We 
read  in  it  not  only  of  the  wrath  of  man,  but  also 
of  the  wrath  of  Jehovah;  and  the  wrath  of  Je- 
hovah is  set  over  against  the  wrath  of  man  as 
greater  than  the  wrath  of  man — greater,  more 
lasting,  more  prevailing.  None  can  stand  when 
the  wrath  of  Jehovah  only  begins:  when  all  other 
wrath  is  quenched  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  abides — 
He  girds  Himself  with  it  and  is  terrible  to  the 
kings  of  the  earth.  We  must  not  then  fall  into 
the  fancy  that  all  wrath  is  evil,  and  that  we  must 
always  and  everywhere  suppress  it.  There  is  a 
righteous  anger,  as  well  as  an  unrighteous.  Else 
we  would  not  read,  "Be  ye  angry,  and  sin  not." 
If  to  be  angry  were  already  sin,  we  could  not  be 
exhorted  not  to  sin  in  our  anger.  God  is  angry. 
He  is  angry  with  the  wicked  every  day.  His 
wrath  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  that 
work  iniquity.  If  it  were  not  so,  He  would  not 
be  a  moral  being:  for  every  moral  being  must 
bum  with  hot  indignation  against  all  wrong  per- 
ceived as  such.  That  is  precisely  what  we  mean 
by  a  moral  being :  a  being  which  knows  right  and 
wrong,  and  which  approves  the  right  and  repro- 
bates the  wrong.  If  we  do  not  react  against  the 
wrong  when  we  see  it,  in  indignation  and  avenging 
wrath,  we  are  either  unmoral  or  immoral. 

Therefore  also,  Christ  was  angry.  The  Gos- 
pels are  filled  with  instances  of  the  manifestation 


THE  WRATH  OF  MAN  29 

by  Him  of  the  emotion  of  anger  in  all  the  varieties 
of  this  emotion:  from  mere  annoyance,  as  when 
He  rebuked  His  disciples  for  forbidding  the  chil- 
dren to  be  brought  unto  Him,  to  burning  indigna- 
tion, as  when  the  imfeeling  Scribes  would  not 
permit  Him  to  heal  the  suffering  on  the  Sabbath 
day — yes,  even  to  what  the  Evangelists  do  not 
scruple  to  call  outbreaking  rage  which  shook  with 
its  paroxysm  His  whole  physical  frame,  as  when 
He  advanced  to  do  battle  with  death  and  sin — the 
destroyers  of  men — at  the  grave  of  Lazarus.  Even 
the  Lamb  feels  and  shows  wrath.  Christ  is  our 
perfect  example.  And  if  we  are  to  be  His  perfect 
imitators,  we  not  only  may,  but  must,  be  angry; 
we  not  only  m.ay,  but  must,  exhibit  wrath — when- 
ever, that  is,  good  is  assaulted  and  evil  is  exalted. 
We  too,  must  be  found,  on  proper  occasion,  with 
the  whip  of  small  cords  in  our  hands;  we  too, 
must  not  draw  back  when  righteousness  is  to  be 
vindicated  or  when  the  oppressed  are  to  be  res- 
cued. In  this  sense  too,  the  wrath  of  man  is  to 
God  for  praise.  We  please  Him  when  we  are 
righteously  angry.  He  who  never  feels  stirring 
within  him  the  emotion  of  just  indignation  is  not 
like  God  in  that  high  element  of  the  image  of 
God  in  which  he  was  made — His  moral  nature. 
Indignation  is  an  inevitable  reaction  of  a  moral 
being  in  the  presence  of  wrongdoing,  and  it  is 
not  merely  his  right,  but  his  duty  to  give  it  play 
when  righteousness  demands  it. 


30  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

No  doubt  we  are  to  seek  peace  and  ensue  it. 
But  this  is  the  peace  not  of  the  condonation  of 
evil,  but  of  the  conquest  of  it.  We  are  to  con- 
quer evil  in  ourselves.  We  are  to  know  no  in- 
ordinate anger.  We  are  to  be  slow  to  anger  and 
quick  to  put  it  aside:  we  are  not  to  let  the  sun 
go  down  upon  our  wrath.  We  are  to  remember 
that  anger  is  a  short  madness,  and  not  trust  our- 
selves too  readily  in  wreaking  it  on  others — even 
when  we  think  it  righteous:  not  avenging  our- 
selves, but  giving  place  to  the  wrath  of  God, 
knowing  that  in  His  own  good  time  and  way  He 
will  avenge  us.  W^e  are  to  conquer  it  in  others: 
by  the  soft  word  which  takes  away  anger,  by  the 
patient  endurance  which  disarms  it,  by  the  un- 
wearying kindness  which  dissolves  it  into  repen- 
tance and  love.  Love  is  the  great  solvent;  and 
love  is  the  bond  of  peace.  Where  love  is,  there 
wrath  will  with  difficulty  live,  and  only  that 
wrath  which  is  after  all  outraged  love  can  easily 
assert  itself.  But  so  long  as  there  is  wrongdoing 
in  the  world,  so  long  will  there  be  a  place  in  the 
world  for  righteous  indignation. 

It  is  only  when  the  world  shall  have  been  re- 
made and  there  is  no  longer  anything  in  it  that 
can  hurt  or  destroy  that  the  lion  and  the  lamb  shall 
lie  down  together — because  now  the  lion  has 
ceased  to  be  a  lion.  These  things  are  to  us  an 
allegory.  They  mean  that  peace  is  the  crowning 
blessing  of  earthly  life  and  comes  in  the  train  of 


THE  WRATH  OF  MAN  31 

righteousness.  Peace  is,  in  the  strictest  sense,  a 
by-product  and  is  not  to  be  had  through  direct 
effort.  He  works  best  for  the  world's  peace  who 
works  for  the  world's  righteousness.  It  is  only 
when  the  world  shall  come  to  know  the  Lord  and 
obey  Him,  that  the  peace  of  God  can  settle  down 
upon  it.  We  may  cry,  "Peace,  peace,"  and  there 
be  no  peace.  But  he  who  cries,  "Righteousness, 
righteousness,"  will  find  that  he  has  brought  peace 
to  the  earth  in  precisely  the  measure  in  which  he 
has  brought  righteousness.  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
Prince  of  Peace,  because  He  takes  away  sin;  and 
you  and  I  are  workers  for  peace  when  we  preach 
His  Gospel,  which  is  the  Gospel  of  peace  just  be- 
cause it  is  the  Gospel  of  deliverance  from  sin.  Sin 
means  war,  and  where  sin  is,  there  will  war  be. 
Righteousness  means  peace,  and  there  can  never 
be  peace  where  righteousness  has  not  first  been 
realized. 


FOR   CHRIST'S  SAKE 

Matt.  5:11:— "For  My  Sake." 

"He  came  to  his  own  and  his  own  received  him 
not."  Though  they  had  been  for  generations 
under  the  tutelage  of  the  law,  the  schoolmaster 
to  lead  them  to  Christ;  though  the  forerunner 
had  come  to  prepare  the  way  before  Him,  pro- 
claiming repentance  to  be  the  gate  to  His  spiritual 
kingdom;  yet  He  found  the  majority  of  the  people 
inflamed  by  earthly  hopes  and  passions  and 
wedded  to  their  expectation  of  a  kingdom  of 
flesh,  in  which  they  as  kings  and  priests  should 
revel  in  the  discomfiture  of  all  their  enemies. 
Consequently  we  find  our  Lord  taking  an  early 
opportunity  in  His  ministry,  w^hen  He  saw  the  mul- 
titudes before  Him,  to  teach  them  the  real  nature 
of  the  kingdom  which  He  came  to  found.  In  this 
aspect,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  is  closely  anal- 
ogous to  the  marvellous  discourse  on  the  Bread  of 
Life,  recorded  for  us  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  John. 
In  both  alike  our  Lord  found  Himself  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  carnal-minded  crowd  whose  hopes  were 
set  upon  an  earthly  kingdom  of  might  and  worldly 
glory,  and  who  sought  Him  only  in  the  hope  that 
through  Him  they  might  gratify  their  ambitious 
aspirations.     In   both   alike   the   purpose   of  the 

32 


FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE  33 

Divine  teacher  is  instruction  and  sifting,  or  sifting 
through  instruction.  They  knew  not  of  what 
spirit  they  were;  He  would  open  to  them  the 
nature  of  the  work  He  came  to  do,  the  nature  of 
the  spiritual  kingdom  He  came  to  found. 

By  historical  necessity,  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  is,  then,  the  proclamation  of  the  law  of 
the  kingdom.  How  beautifully  it  opens!  Not, 
as  the  listening  crowd,  hanging  eagerly  upon  the 
lips  of  the  wondrous  teacher,  expected,  with  a 
clarion  call  to  arms,  or  a  ringing  promise  of  re- 
ward to  him  who  fought  valiantly  for  Israel. 
Not  as  we  might  expect,  with  a  stinging  rebuke 
to  their  carnal  hopes  and  a  stern  correction  and 
repression  of  their  ungentle  spirit.  But  gently 
and  winningly,  wooing  Ihe  hearers  to  the  higher 
ideal,  by  depicting  in  the  most  attractively  simple 
language  the  blessedness  of  those  in  whom  should 
be  found  the  marks  of  the  true  children  of  the 
kingdom.  When  the  Lord  speaks  to  His  chil- 
dren it  is  not  in  the  voice  of  the  great  and  strong 
wind  that  rends  the  mountain  and  breaks  in 
pieces  the  rocks,  nor  in  that  of  the  earthquake,  or 
of  the  fire,  but  in  that  still  small  voice  or  "sound 
of  a  gentle  stillness"  in  which  He  spoke  to  Elijah 
in  the  mountain.  The  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah 
had  come  and  He  opens  His  mouth  and  blesses 
the  people  in  the  voice  of  a  Lamb. 

Look  at  this  ninefold  twisted  cord  of  the  be- 
atitudes and  learn  what  the  followers  of  the  Lamb 


34  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

must  be.  As  we  look  does  it  seem  a  mirror  giving 
us  back  the  lines  and  features  of  our  own  faces? 
Or  rather,  some  strange  picture  of  an  unknown 
race  brought  home  by  some  traveller  to  a  far 
country — a  race  of  almost  unhuman  lineaments, 
so  different  are  they  from  our  own?  Indeed, 
here  is  the  portrait  of  the  dwellers  in  a  far  land, 
even  a  heavenly;  here  we  trace  in  living  charac- 
ters the  outlines  of  those  who  live  with  God;  the 
citizens  of  His  kingdom  whose  home  and  abiding 
city  is  above,  where  Jesus  is  on  the  right  hand  of 
God.  They  are  not  of  lofty  carriage — but  "poor 
in  spirit";  nor  are  they  of  gay  countenance — 
they  "mourn"  rather,  and  "hunger  and  thirst" 
eagerly  "after  the  righteousness"  which  they  lack 
within  themselves;  they  are  "merciful,  poor  in 
heart,  peacemakers."  Surely  then,  they  are  well- 
esteemed  among  men!  Nay,  this  is  another  of 
their  characteristics.  They  are  supremely  lov- 
able; but  men  hate  them.  They  are  persecuted 
for  their  very  righteousness'  sake.  But  they  have 
their  reward.  Blessed  are  they — nay,  "blessed  are 
ye — when  men  shall  reproach  you  and  persecute 
you  and  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely 
for  Christ's  sake.  Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad, 
for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven." 

The  promises  of  Christ  are  not  earthly  but 
heavenly.  He  promises  His  servants  evils  here 
below;  so  true  is  it  that  "prosperity  is  the  blessing 
of  the  Old  Testament,  adversity  of  the  New." 


FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE  35 

Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  this  lowliness  and  evil, 
they  are  blessed.  As  heaven  is  higher  than  earth 
so  high  is  their  blessedness  above  any  earthly 
success  or  glory  or  delight.  Though  they  see 
their  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  being  hter- 
ally  worn  away,  then,  by  afflictions  oft  and  en- 
durances many  they  need  not  faint;  for  even  this 
affliction  is  light  in  comparison  with  the  weight 
of  yonder  glory.  More,  they  may  rejoice  and  be 
exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  their  reward  in  heaven. 
The  more  suffering  for  Christ  here,  the  more 
glory  with  Christ  there.  As  an  old  writer  has 
it,  the  more  the  vessels  of  mercy  are  scoured  here, 
the  more  may  they  be  assured  that  God  wants 
them  to  shine  there;  the  more  clear  it  is  that  we 
are  being  preserved  not  in  sugar  but  in  brine,  the 
more  clear  that  God  is  preserving  us  not  for  a 
season  but  for  eternity.  The  last  of  the  beati- 
tudes thus  pronounces  blessed  those  who  suffer 
affliction  for  Christ's  sake  and  bids  them  rejoice 
and  be  exceeding  glad,  because  their  reward  shall 
be  great 

Let  us  punctually  observe,  however,  that  it  is 
not  affliction  in  itself  that  is  pronounced  blessed. 
It  is  affliction  for  Christ's  sake.  This  is  the  key- 
phrase  which  locks  up  the  whole  list  of  beatitudes. 
For  Christ's  sake.  It  is  this  that  transmutes  pov- 
erty of  spirit  into  heavenly  humility,  that  brings 
comfort  to  the  mourning,  and  glorious  riches  to 
the  meek,  and  plenty  to  those  that  hunger  and 


36  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

thirst  after  righteousness.  It  is  this  that  has  been 
the  spring  of  mercy  in  the  merciful,  of  purity  in 
the  pure  of  heart,  of  peace  in  the  peacemakers. 
And  it  is  this  and  this  only  that  makes  it  a  glory 
to  endure  the  scoffs  and  revilings  and  persecutions 
of  men.  As  truly  as  we  may  say  that  the  blessed- 
ness of  affliction  and  persecution  is  due  to  its  re- 
lation to  the  reward,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
the  gateway  to  the  kingdom,  so  also  may  we  say 
that  it  depends  on  its  cause.  For  Christ's  sake 
is  the  little  phrase  that  points  us  to  its  source  and 
law. 

When  we  selected  these  three  words,  "For  my 
sake"  as  the  centre  of  our  meditation  this  after- 
noon, therefore,  we  elected  to  ask  you  to  give 
your  attention  this  hour  to  the  great  determining 
motive  of  the  Christian  life,  above  which  the 
Scriptures  know  no  higher,  above  which  no  higher 
can  be  conceived.  Christ  adverts  to  it  as  the 
great  moving  spring  of  Christian  activity  and  en- 
durance in  the  ninth  beatitude.  When  reproach 
and  persecution  and  reviling  are  endured  on 
Christ's  account,  then  and  then  only  are  we 
blessed.  But  this  is  not  the  only  place  or  the  most 
moving  way  that  this  motive  is  adduced.  The 
Scriptures  are  full  of  it.  Let  us  sum  up  what  we 
have  to  say  of  it  in  two  propositions.  (1)  For 
Christ's  sake  is  the  highest  motive  which  could 
be  adduced  to  govern  our  conduct.  (2)  For 
Christ's  sake  ought  and  must  be  our  motive  in  all 


FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE  37 

our  conduct.  In  other  words  it  is  the  grandest 
and  most  compelling,  and  we  should  make  it  our 
universal  and  continual  motive,  in  all  our  conduct 
of  life. 

Let  us  consider  then,  the  greatness  of  this  motive 
as  a  spring  of  action,  and  here  let  us  observe,  first, 
that  its  greatness  as  a  motive  is  revealed  to  us  by 
the  greatness  of  the  requirements  that  are  made 
of  us  on  its  account.  This  ninth  beatitude  is  an 
example  in  point.  Men  are  expected  to  endure 
reproaches  and  persecutions  and  all  manner  of 
evil  for  Christ's  sake.  That  is,  "for  Christ's 
sake"  is  expected  to  sweeten  the  bitterest  cup, 
and  to  make  every  affliction  joyful  to  us.  Dis- 
graceful scourgings,  unjust  imprisonments  (Matt. 
10:18),  burning  hates  (10:22),  malignant  slanders 
(Luke  6:22),  death  itself  (Matt.  10:39),  and  that 
with  the  utmost  refinement  of  cruelty  and  the 
deepest  depths  of  disgrace;  all  these  are  enumer- 
ated for  us  as  things  before  which  no  Christian 
should  hesitate  when  it  is  for  Christ's  sake.  All 
these  are  things  which  Christians  have  joyfully 
met  with  praises  on  their  lips  for  Christ's  sake. 
The  enumeration  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  He- 
brews is  but  a  bare  catalogue  of  what  since  then 
has  been  endured  with  delight  by  those  who  bore 
this  strengthening  talisman  in  their  bosom.  For 
Christ's  sake.  These  too  have  had  trial  of  mock- 
ings  and  scourgings,  of  bonds  and  imprisonments, 
of  stonings  and  sawings    asunder,    and    of    long 


38  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

lives  of  privation  in  deserts  and  eaves  and  have 
for  Christ's  sake  witnessed  a  good  confession. 
These  all,  in  one  word,  have  testified  to  us  the 
supreme  strength  of  the  motive  "for  Christ's 
sake,"  by  joyfully  suffering  everything  for  Christ, 
that  they  might  be  glorified  with  Him,  becoming 
sharers  in  His  sufferings  that  they  might  be  par- 
ticipants in  His  glory. 

And  this  leads  us  to  observe,  secondly,  that  the 
greatness  of  this  motive  is  revealed  to  us  by  the 
greatness  of  the  promises  that  are  attached  to 
living  by  it.  So  in  this  ninth  beatitude,  those 
who  are  afflicted  for  Christ's  sake  are  pronounced 
blessed,  and  are  called  upon  to  rejoice  and  be  ex- 
ceeding glad,  because — because,  so  it  is  added, 
"great  is  your  reward  in  heaven."  And  so  is  it 
everywhere.  "Every  one"  it  is  said,  without 
exception  (Matt.  19:39),  "every  one  that  hath 
left  houses  or  brethren  or  sisters  or  fathers  or 
mothers  or  children  or  lands  for  my  name's  sake, 
shall  receive  a  hundredfold  and  shall  inherit  eter- 
nal life."  Thus  it  is  that  those  whose  eyes  are 
opened  may  see  the  recompense  of  the  reward 
and  may  be  enabled  to  account  the  reproach  of 
Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt. 
He  that  denieth  Christ  before  men  may,  indeed, 
receive  the  applause  of  men;  but  men  pass  away 
and  their  applause  is  empty  air.  But,  he  that 
denieth  men  for  Christ's  sake  is  received  into  the 
eternal  habitations.     "He  that  findeth  his   life 


FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE  39 

shall  lose  it;  but  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  find  it."  If  we  suffer  with  Him  so  also  shall 
we  be  glorified  together  with  Him  (Rom.  8:17). 
There  is,  indeed,  no  limit  to  the  reward  promised; 
truly  "great  is  our  reward  in  heaven."  And  the 
greatness  of  the  motive  may  be  justly  measured 
by  the  greatness  of  the  reward.  As  high  as  heaven 
is  above  earth,  as  long  as  eternity  is  beyond  time, 
as  great  as  perfection  is  above  lack,  as  strong  as 
stability  is  above  that  which  endureth  but  a 
moment;  so  high  is  the  heavenly  reward  above 
the  earthly  suffering  and  so  strong  is  the  motive  to 
act  for  Christ's  sake. 

But,  thirdly,  let  us  observe  that  the  greatness 
of  this  motive  is  revealed  to  us  by  the  fact  that 
God  honours  it  as  the  motive  of  His  own  most  mys- 
terious acts  of  redemption.  He  not  only  asks  us 
to  do  for  Christ's  sake  what  is  hard  for  us,  but  He 
Himself  for  Christ's  sake  does  what  is  hard  for 
Him.  What  could  be  more  difficult  for  a  just  and 
holy  God  than  to  pardon  sin  and  take  the  sinner 
into  His  most  intimate  love  and  communion.^ 
Yet  for  Christ's  sake  God  does  even  this.  "I 
write  unto  you,  little  children,"  says  the  beloved 
Apostle,  "because  your  sins  are  forgiven  you  for 
his  name's  sake"  (1  John  2:12).  All  the  instru- 
mentalities of  grace  are  set  at  work  in  the  world, 
only  for  Christ's  sake.  It  is  for  His  sake  that  we 
are  accepted  by  God,  that  we  have  the  gift  of 
the  Spirit,  that  we  are  regenerated,  adopted,  jus- 


40  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tified,  sanctified,  glorified.  Nay,  even  the  little 
things  of  life  are  for  His  sake.  It  is  not  only  for 
His  sake  that  we  are  received  by  God,  but  for 
His  sake  that  we  are  treated  even  here  and  now 
while  yet  sinners  as  God's  children,  allowed  free- 
dom of  access  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  and  have 
all  our  petitions  (little  and  great  alike)  heard  and 
answered.  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,"  says  the 
Saviour,  "whatever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  that 
will  I  do"  (Jno.  14:13). 

And  thus  we  are  led  finally  to  observe  that  the 
greatness  of  the  motive  rests  on  the  greatness  of 
Christ's  work  for  us.  As  He  has  stopped  at  noth- 
ing for  our  sakes,  so  we  must  not  stop  at  anything 
for  His  sake.  All  that  we  are  and  all  that  we 
have  are  His.  And  as  He  has  loved  us  and  given 
Himself  for  us,  so  must  we  love  Him  and  give 
ourselves  to  Him.  Behind  the  phrase  "for  thy 
sake"  lurks  thus  all  the  motive  power  of  a  great 
love,  the  fruit  of  a  great  gratitude.  As  we  can 
never  repay  Him  for  our  redemption,  so  there  is 
nothing  that  we  can  pause  at,  if  done  for  His 
sake.  Is  not  this  the  core  of  the  whole  matter.^ 
What  difference  will  it  make  to  us  what  men  may 
judge  or  what  they  will  do?  Need  we  hesitate 
because  they  consider  us  beside  ourselves.^  If 
this  is  lunacy,  it  is  a  blessed  lunacy!  Nay,  shall 
we  not  rather  say  with  the  Apostle  of  old,  "  whether 
we  be  beside  ourselves  it  is  to  God.  .  .  .  For  the 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."     And  why  should 


FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE  41 

the  love  of  Christ  constrain  us?  "Because  we 
thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all  then  all  died; 
and  He  died  for  all  that  those  that  live  should  no 
longer  live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  Him  who 
for  their  sakes  died  and  rose  again."  Yes,  here 
it  is :  for  our  sakes  He  died  and  rose  again.  And 
because  He  died  for  our  sakes,  we  shall  live  for 
Him,  yea,  and  if  need  be,  for  His  sake  also  die. 
Is  there,  can  there  be  asked,  a  stronger  motive 
than  this.f^ 

Or  need  we  ask  at  this  point  how  universal  is 
this  obligation — how  far,  into  what  details  of  life, 
we  should  carry  it  as  our  motive  .^^  It  is  clear  that 
there  can  be  no  call  so  great  that  this  motive 
should  not  dominate  it;  we  must  be  glad  and  will- 
ing to  go  to  death  itself  "for  His  sake."  But 
perhaps,  the  other  side  needs  emphasis  too.  Can 
there  be  a  call  so  small  that  this  motive  need  not 
govern  us.^  Nay,  we  are  bought  with  a  price  and 
are  asked  not  only  to  be  ready  to  die,  but  also 
(sometimes  a  harder  task)  to  be  ready  to  live  for 
Christ.  Whatever  we  do,  however  small,  how- 
ever seemingly  insignificant — must  needs  be  for 
Him.  We  are  now  new  creatures — no  more 
worldlings  but  Christ's  children;  let  us  see  to  it 
that  we  live  like  Christ's  own  children;  doing  all 
we  do  for  Him  and  for  His  sake.  So  the  Scrip- 
tures teach  us  to  do:  "Whatsoever  ye  do  in  word 
or  in  deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
giving  thanks  to  God  the  Father  through  Him." 


42  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

"Whatsoever  ye  do,  do  from  the  soul,  as  unto  the 
Lord,  and  not  unto  men;  knowing  that  from  the 
Lord  ye  shall  receive  the  recompense  of  the  m- 
heritance."  (Col.  3:17,  23.)  As  Christians,  let 
us  be  Christians,  recognizably  followers  of  Christ, 
doing  His  will  in  all  we  do  and  trying  our  duty  at 
every  stage  simply  by  these  questions:  Is  it  ac- 
cording to  His  will.^  Does  it  subserve  His  glory? 
Is  it  for  His  sake?  So  doing,  we  cannot  but  ap- 
prove ourselves  before  man  and  God  as  followers 
of  Him. 


THIS-  AND  OTHER-WORLDLINESS 

Matt.  6:33: — "But  seek  ye  first  his  kingdom  and  his  righteous- 
ness; and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

This  verse  is  in  a  sense  the  summing  up  of  the 
whole  lesson  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  up  to 
this  point.  This  great  discourse  had  opened 
with  an  enumeration  of  the  classes  to  whom  the 
advent  of  the  kingdom  would  bring  joy  and  bless- 
ing, in  whom  the  leading  characteristic  is  seen  to 
be  other- worldliness.  It  then  proceeded  to  enun- 
ciate the  law  of  the  kingdom,  which  demanded 
holiness  before  God  rather  than  external  right- 
eousness before  men.  At  the  nineteenth  verse  of 
the  sixth  chapter  the  summing  up  begins  with  a 
direct  appeal  to  lay  aside  care  for  earthly  things 
and  to  set  the  mind  on  heavenly  things.  This 
summing  up  culminates  and  finds  its  fullest  ex- 
pression in  the  verse  before  us:  "But  seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness;  and 
all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  This  is 
the  precipitate  of  the  whole  sermon;  in  a  few 
words  it  contrasts  the  two  cares  which  press  on 
man,  the  two  seekings  which  may  engage  his  at- 
tention. It  does  not  commend  to  us  a  nerveless 
life  of  Buddhist-like  retirement  from  desire  and 
destruction  of  activity.  It  presupposes  in  all 
men  who  are  men,  desire,  energy,  activity  directed 

43 


44  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

to  a  goal.  But  it  discriminates  activities  and 
goals.  We  are  to  seek.  But  not  what  the  heathen 
seek — worldly  ease  and  goods  and  advantages. 
We  are  to  seek  heavenly  things.  Hence,  it  bans 
one  class  of  seekings  and  commends  the  other. 
Our  chief  end  is  not  to  gain  earthly  things  but 
heavenly. 

Approaching  the  verse  somewhat  more  closely, 
we  observe  of  it — that  it  is  a  protest  against  prac- 
tical atheism.  There  is  a  formal  atheism  of  opin- 
ions and  words  and  reasonings  which  declares 
that  there  is  no  God  and  seeks  to  sophisticate  the 
understanding  into  believing  that  there  is  none. 
This  the  Bible  describes  as  an  open  folly:  the 
fool  has  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God.  But 
even  when  the  lip  and  the  mind  behind  the  lip 
are  true  to  right  reason  and  confess  that  there  is 
a  God  who  rules  the  world  and  to  whom  Ve  are 
responsible  in  our  every  thought  and  word  and 
deed,  there  is  often  a  practical  atheism  that  lives 
as  if  there  were  no  God.  Formal  atheism  denies 
God;  practical  atheism  is  guilty  of  the  possibly 
even  more  astounding  sin  of  forgetting  the  God  it 
confesses.  How  many  men  who  would  not  think 
of  saying  even  in  their  hearts.  There  is  no  God, 
deny  Him  practically  by  ordering  their  lives  as  if 
He  were  not.^^  And  even  among  those  who  yield, 
in  their  lives,  a  practical  as  well  as  a  formal  ac- 
knowledgment of  God,  many  yet  manage,  prac- 
tically, to  deny  in  their  lives  that  this  God,  ac- 


THIS-  AND  OTHER-WORLDLINESS        45 

knowledged  and  served,  is  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth. 
How  prone  we  are  to  limit  and  circumscribe  the 
sphere  in  which  we  practically  allow  for  God! 
We  feel  His  presence  and  activity  in  some  things 
but  not  in  others;  we  seek  His  blessing  in  some 
matters  but  not  in  others;  we  look  for  His  guid- 
ance in  some  affairs  but  not  in  others;  we  can 
trust  Him  in  some  crises  and  with  some  of  our 
hopes  but  not  in  or  with  others.  This  too  is  a 
practical  atheism.  And  it  is  against  all  such  prac- 
tical atheism  that  our  passage  enters  its  protest. 
It  protests  against  men  living  as  if  they  were  the 
builders  of  their  own  houses,  the  architects  of  their 
own  fortunes.  It  protests  against  men  reckoning 
in  anything  without  God. 

How  are  we  to  order  our  lives  .^  How  are  we 
to  provide  for  our  households — or,  for  our  own 
bodily  wants.?  Is  it  true  that  we  can  trust  the 
eternal  welfare  of  our  souls  to  God  and  cannot 
trust  to  Him  the  temporal  welfare  of  our  bodies.? 
Is  it  true  that  He  has  provided  salvation  for  us 
at  the  tremendous  cost  of  the  death  of  His  Son, 
and  will  not  provide  food  for  us  to  eat  and 
clothes  for  us  to  wear  at  the  cost  of  the  directive 
word  that  speaks  and  it  is  done.?  Is  it  true 
that  we  can  stand  by  the  bedside  of  our  dying 
friend  and  send  him  forth  into  eternity  in  good 
confidence  in  God,  and  cannot  send  that  same 
friend  forth  into  the  world  with  any  confidence 
that   God   will   keep  him   there.?      O,   the    prac- 


46  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tical  atheism  of  many  of  our  earthly  cares  and 
earthly  anxieties!  Can  we  not  read  the  lessons 
of  the  birds  of  heaven  and  the  lilies  of  the  field 
which  our  Father  feeds  and  clothes?  What  a 
rebuke  these  lessons  are  to  our  practical  atheism, 
which  says,  in  effect,  that  we  cannot  trust  God 
for  our  earthly  prosperity  but  must  bid  Him  wait 
until  we  make  good  our  earthly  fortunes  before 
we  can  afford  to  turn  to  Him.  How  many  men 
do  actually  think  that  it  is  unreasonable  to  serve 
God  at  the  expense  of  their  business  activity? 
To  give  Him  their  first  and  most  energetic  ser- 
vice? How  many  think  it  would  be  unreasonable 
in  God  to  put  His  service  before  their  provision  for 
themselves  and  family?  How  many  of  us  who 
have  been  able  to  "risk"  ourselves,  do  not  think 
that  we  can  "risk"  our  families  in  God's  keeping? 
How  subtle  the  temptations !  But,  here  our  Lord 
brushes  them  all  away  in  the  calm  words,  "Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness ; 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
Is  this  not  a  rebuke  to  our  practical  atheism? 
But  the  verse  does  not  take  the  form  of  a  re- 
buke; it  takes  the  form  of  an  appeal;  and  we 
observe  next  of  it,  therefore,  that  it  is  an  appeal 
to  make  God's  kingdom  and  righteousness  the 
prime  objects  of  our  life.  And  looking  closely  at 
it  we  see  that  it  is  not  an  empty  appeal  but  in- 
cludes a  promise.  We  are,  primarily,  to  make 
God's  kingdom  and  righteousness  our  chief  con- 


THIS-  AND  OTHER- WORLDLINESS        47 

cem;  but,  doing  so,  we  shall  more  surely  secure 
the  earthly  things  we  need.  The  passage  does 
not  proceed  on  the  presumption  that  we  do  not 
need  these  earthly  things;  it  asserts  our  need  of 
them.  It  does  not  proceed  on  the  assumption 
that  they  are  not  to  be  in  their  appropriate  place 
and  order  and  way  the  objects  of  seeking.  It 
merely  corrects  our  mode  of  seeking  them.  We 
may  seek  them  without  and  apart  from  God  or 
we  may  seek  them  in  and  of  God.  It  tells  us  that 
the  former  way — the  atheistic  way,  in  which  we 
seek  to  provide  for  ourselves — is  the  way  not  to 
get  them;  the  latter  way  in  which  we  seek  them 
in  and  from  God  is  the  way  to  get  them.  Who 
can  doubt  it.? 

In  the  first  place  we  have  God's  promise.  He 
tells  us  that  if  we  will  seek  first  His  Kingdom  and 
His  righteousness  He  will  add  all  these  things.  He 
tells  us  in  effect  that  to  godliness  there  is  the  prom- 
ise both  of  this  world  and  of  the  world  to  come. 
Men  find  it  hard  to  believe  this.  It  is  a  standing 
problem  of  the  wise  of  the  earth  and  has  been 
from  Job's  day  down.     But  we  have  the  promise. 

In  the  next  place  we  may  add,  despite  the  diffi- 
culties of  life  and  the  clouding  of  judgment,  it, 
after  all,  does  stand  to  reason.  Isn't,  after  all,  it 
the  best  way  to  secure  the  reward,  to  enter  into 
the  service  of  the  King.?  And  God  is  the  King 
of  all  the  earth.  How  shall  we  obtain  the  goods 
of  the  earth  better  than  by  hearty  service  of  the 


48  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

King  of  the  earth?  True  we  shall  obtain  them  as 
gifts  and  not  as  acquired  by  us.  But  is  not  the 
best  path  for  man,  to  seek  them  at  His  hands? 
The  King  suffers  not  His  faithful  servants  to 
want. 

But  more  fundamentally  still,  we  may  add  that 
it  belongs  to  the  very  nature  of  things.  If  we 
want  to  enjoy  those  earthly  goods  which  God  has 
placed  in  this  world  for  the  benefit  and  use  of  His 
children,  the  best  way  to  secure  their  enjoyment 
is  obviously  not  to  seek  to  do  it  individually  but 
socially.  It  is  a  social  axiom  that  everything  that 
betters  the  condition  of  society  as  a  whole  increases 
our  enjoyment  of  our  material  goods.  A  savage 
acquires  a  pot  of  gold.  How  shall  he  enjoy  it? 
His  fellow  savages  covet  it;  and  who  shall  secure 
it  to  him?  He  is  liable  to  be  waylaid  at  night  for 
it.  Every  bush  hides  an  enemy;  the  poisoned 
arrow  may  fly  upon  him  from  any  tree;  his  sleep 
is  driven  from  him  as  he  seeks  to  protect  his  life. 
Hidden  by  friendly  darkness  he  may  bury  his 
treasure  under  some  great  tree  in  the  tangled 
forest;  and  anxiously  guard  its  neighbourhood  lest 
he  may  have  been  watched  and  still  be  bereft  of 
it.  In  such  conditions  there  is  no  enjoyment  of 
the  treasure  for  him;  he  can  enjoy  only  the  pro- 
tection of  it.  But,  now,  he  is  a  wise  savage  and 
instead  of  giving  his  energies  to  protecting  his 
treasure,  he  gives  it  to  civilizing  his  people.  Out 
of  the  savage  tribe  rise  the  rudiments  of  a  state; 


THIS-  AND  OTHER-WORLDLINESS         49 

the  majesty  of  law  emerges— protecting  under 
its  powerful  aegis  the  person  and  property  of  its 
citizens.  What  a  change!  No  need  of  hiding 
the  treasure  now.  He  can  wear  it  displayed  upon 
his  person.  He  now  can  enjoy  at  least  its  pos- 
session. But  a  higher  stage  is  still  possible;  the 
community  may  be  not  only  civiHzed  but  Chris- 
tianized; Christian  principles  take  the  place  of 
external  laws;  love  the  place  of  force.  And  he, 
touched  with  the  same  spirit,  goes  about  with  his 
treasure,  transmuting  it  into  aid  for  the  suffering 
and  needy.  Now  he  is  truly  enjoying  it,  enjoying, 
not  only  protecting  it,  not  only  possessing  it  but 
using  it.  When  such  a  time  fully  comes  to  this 
world  of  ours — that  is  what  we  mean  by  the  Mil- 
lennium— the  kingdom  of  God  has  come  for 
which  we  daily  pray  in  the  prayer  our  Lord  has 
taught  us,  when  men  no  longer  prey  on  one  an- 
other but  help  and  support  one  another. 

Meanwhile  how  shall  we  approach  it.^  By  cur 
Lord's  prescription— by  seeking  the  kingdom  of 
God  and  His  righteousness.  In  proportion  as  we 
seek  and  find  this  kingdom,  in  the  measure  in 
which  we  bring  it  into  practical  life  in  the  narrow 
circle  around  us,  is  it  not  necessarily  true  that  we 
shall  have  and  enjoy  the  best  goods  of  this  earth.? 
Is  there  not  a  deep  foundation  in  the  nature  of 
things  for  our  Lord's  promise:  "Seek  ye  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness;  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  to  you?"     Is  not  this 


50  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  most  hopeful  way  to  obtain  and  hold  and 
enjoy  these  other  things? 

But  it  is  time  for  us  to  take  note  of  another  and 
the  most  characteristic  element  in  this  appeal. 
When  we  observe  it  narrowly  we  will  see  that  it  is 
not  an  appeal  to  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
His  righteousness  on  the  ground  that  this  is  the 
best  way  to  obtain  the  other  goods.  It  does  not 
say:  "Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness"  "because" — but  simply  "and" 
— "and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you." 
It  is  a  fact  that  Godliness  has  also  the  promise  of 
this  life,  but  that  is  not  the  reason  why  Godliness 
should  be  sought.  It  is  a  better  reason  that  it 
has  the  promise  of  the  life  to  come.  It  is  a  bet- 
ter reason  still  that  it  is  Godliness.  Nor  does  our 
passage  itself  fail  to  bring  this  out.  It  does  not 
say  "and  all  these  things  shall  be  your  reward." 
It  does  not  propose  to  pay  us  for  seeking  God's 
Kingdom  and  righteousness  by  giving  us  earthly 
things.  It  says:  "and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you."  The  Greek  word  is  not  the 
word  for  pay,  reward,  but  for  the  small  gratuitous 
addition  to  the  promised  wages,  given  as  we  should 
say  "in  the  bargain."  The  worldly  goods  that 
come  to  us  are  in  a  word  here  represented  not  as 
our  reward,  but  as  something  "in  the  bargain." 
The  appeal  of  the  passage  is  made  to  rest  else- 
where; that  is,  in  the  contrast  between  goods 
earthly  and  goods  heavenly.     We  are  to  seek  the 


THIS-  AND  OTHER-WORLDLINESS        51 

heavenly,  not  for  the  sake  of  the  earthly,  but  for 
their  own  sake.  For,  as  Paul  says,  after  all  the 
Kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink  but 
righteousness.  And  our  passage  sets,  as  Bengel 
points  out,  this  celestial  food  and  drink  over 
against  the  earthly. 

Herein  resides  the  "hft"  of  the  passage.  It 
places  the  highest  good  before  us — God  and  His 
righteousness — fellowship  with  God;  and  pries  at 
our  hearts  with  this  great  lever  of.  Who  will  seek 
earthly  food  and  drink  when  they  can  seek  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  His  righteousness.?  In  the 
restitution  of  the  harmony  between  man  and  God 
thus  involved,  every  blessing  is  included.  Here  is 
something  worth  losing  all  earthly  joys  for.  Here 
is  something  worth  the  labour  of  men,  the  very  end 
of  whose  being  is  to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him 
forever.  Would  we  not  purchase  it  with  loss  of  all 
earthly — if  we  can  speak  of  loss  in  the  exchange 
of  the  less  for  the  greater.?  Will  we  not  take  this 
for  our  seeking  when  in  addition  to  this  great 
reward,  we  shall  have  also  "all  these  things  added 
to  us".?  See  the  tenderness  of  our  Lord  in  this 
constant  regard  for  our  human  weakness. 

And  there  is  another  tender  word  in  the  pas- 
sage when  restored  to  its  right  reading,  which 
reaches  down  into  our  hearts  to  summon  another 
motive  from  their  depths,  whereby  we  may  be  led 
to  seek  God's  kingdom  and  righteousness.  The 
fact  that  this  is  the  best  way  to  obtain  these  very 


52  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

eaTthly  blessings  which  we  need  may  be  a  suffi- 
cient motive.  The  glory  of  the  things  sought 
may  be  a  higher  and  more  prevailing  motive. 
But  there  is  a  more  powerful  one  still;  it  is 
love — love  not  to  a  principle  but  to  a  person. 
And  our  Lord  does  not  fail  to  touch  on  this. 
In  its  right  reading  the  passage  does  not  run: 
"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,"  but  "  Seek  ye  first  His  king- 
dom and  His  righteousness."  And  the  ante- 
cedent to  "His"  is  "your  heavenly  Father." 
Here  our  Lord  is  tugging  at  our  hearts.  "  For 
your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have 
need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  His 
kingdom  and  His — your  heavenly  Father's — 
righteousness;  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  Did  we  say  the  passage  is  a  protest? 
Did  we  say  it  is  a  command.?  Do  we  not  now 
see  that  it  is  rather  a  pleading .^^  O,  the  subtlety 
of  love!  Love  speaks  here  to  us;  will  not  love 
respond  in  us.'^  Under  such  pleading  what  can 
we  do  but  seek  first  our  heavenly  Father's 
kingdom,  our  heavenly  Father's  righteousness.'^ 
And  because  He  is  our  Father,  we  are  sure  both 
that  we  shall  find  it,  and  with  it — how  compari- 
tively  little  it  seems  now! — whatever  else  we 
need,  added  to  us. 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING 

Mark  4:21-25: — "And  he  said  unto  them.  Is  the  lamp  brought 
to  be  put  under  the  bushel,  or  under  the  bed,  and  not  to  be  put 
on  the  stand?  For  there  is  nothing  hid,  save  that  it  should  be 
manifested;  neither  was  anything  made  secret,  but  that  it  should 
come  to  light.  If  any  man  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear.  And 
he  said  unto  them,  Take  heed  what  ye  hear:  with  what  measure 
ye  mete  it  shall  be  measured  unto  you;  and  more  shall  be  given 
unto  you.  For  he  that  hath,  to  him  shall  be  given:  and  he  that 
hath  not,  from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath." 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  our  Lord's  method 
of  teaching  is  His  repeated  use  of  a  number  of  fav- 
ourite sayings — or  maxims,  we  may  call  them — in 
varied  connexions  and  in  differing  applications. 
This  gives  a  remarkable  piquancy  to  His  speech 
and  must  at  the  time  have  served  the  double 
purpose  of  fixing  the  several  teachings  which  He 
embodied  in  these  gnomic  sayings  firmly  in  the 
minds  of  His  hearers,  and  of  attracting  them  to  the 
matter  of  them  as  something  peculiarly  weighty. 
In  the  passage  before  us  we  have  a  cluster  of 
these  "proverbs,"  all  of  which  meet  us  elsewhere 
and  sometimes  with  other  applications,  but  which 
are  combined  here  to  give  pregnancy  and  force 
to  the  specific  message  of  this  passage.  Here  is 
the  beautiful  parable  of  the  lamp.  Here  is 
the  amazing  paradox  of  secrecy  in  order  to  open- 
ness.    Here  is  the  crisp  proverb  that  ears  are 

53 


54  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

given  for  hearing.  Here  is  the  simile  of  equitable 
measures.  Here  is  the  gnome  of  the  relation  of 
possession  to  receptivity.  No  one  of  these  is  a 
stranger  to  readers  of  the  Gospels.  They  are 
found  elsewhere  also  in  much  the  same  connexion 
as  here;  but  they  are  found  elsewhere  also  in 
other  connexions.  They  are  marshalled  to- 
gether here  to  give  wings  to  a  specific  teaching. 

What  is  that  specific  teaching  .^^ 

Well,  there  is  too  much  in  it — too  much  depth 
of  suggestion,  too  many  implications  of  meaning, 
for  us  to  attempt  to  draw  it  all  out  at  once.  But 
we  may  direct  our  attention  to  at  least  four 
things  that  lie  on  the  surface.  Obviously  this 
cluster  of  sayings  lays  before  us  an  important 
declaration,  presses  on  our  attention  an  urgent 
exhortation,  reveals  to  us  a  profound  philosophy 
of  life,  and  founds  on  this  a  serious  warning. 
Let  us  attend  for  a  moment  to  these  four  things. 

The  important  declaration  that  is  made  in 
these  sayings  amounts  to  this:  that  there  is  no 
esoteric  element  in  Christian  teaching.  This  is 
the  primary  suggestion  of  the  parable  of  the  lamp 
and  the  explicit  assertion  of  the  startling  paradox 
which  immediately  follows  it,  to  the  efiPect  that 
"there  is  nothing  hid  save  that  it  may  be  man- 
ifested, neither  has  anything  been  made  secret 
save  that  it  might  come  abroad."  For  a  lamp 
exists,  the  parable  tells  us,  for  no  other  purpose 
but  to  illuminate;   it  comes  not  to  be  put  under 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING  55 

the  bushel  or  under  the  couch,  but  on  the  stand — 
that  its  light  may  shine.  And,  the  paradox  adds, 
there  is  to  be  nothing  cryptic  or  apocryphal  in  the 
whole  sphere  of  Christian  teaching.  It  is,  in 
effect,  the  very  contradiction  of  Christianity  as 
truth,  to  imagine  that  it  can  exist  for  any  other 
end  but  to  serve  the  purpose  of  truth — to  en- 
lighten. 

The  strength  of  our  Lord's  emphasis  on  this 
important  declaration  just  on  this  occasion  finds 
its  explanation  of  course  in  the  need  that  had 
arisen  to  guard  from  misapprehension  His  own 
methods  of  teaching.  For  a  change  had  just 
been  introduced  into  His  modes  of  instruction, 
from  which  His  disciples  might  be  tempted  to 
infer  that  Christianity  was  a  double  system, 
with  an  esoteric  and  an  exoteric  aspect.  Our 
Lord,  who  had  hitherto  spoken  plainly,  had  sud- 
denly begun  to  speak  in  parables;  and  He  had 
not  concealed  from  His  disciples  that  His  object 
was  to  veil  His  meaning.  Was  there  not  intro- 
duced thus  the  full-blown  system  of  esoterism? 
It  is  to  correct  this  not  unnatural  inference  that 
our  Lord  declares  so  emphatically  that  the  truth 
He  is  teaching — even  in  parabolic  form — is  a 
lamp,  and  has  for  its  one  end  to  shine;  that  what 
is  now  hid  and  made  secret  under  this  parabolic 
veil,  is  hid  and  made  secret  not  that  it  may  not  be 
made  known,  but  just  that  it  may  be  made  known. 
The  impulse  to  use  parables  thus  arises  from  wis- 


56  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

dom  and  prudence  in  teaching,  not  from  a  desire 
to  conceal.  He  teaches  in  parables  in  order 
that  He  may  teach;  not  in  order  that  He  may 
not  teach.  This  method  of  veiled  teaching,  in  a 
word,  is  forced  on  Him  by  the  conditions  under 
which  He  is  teaching  and  arises  from  the  state 
of  mind  of  His  hearers;  it  is  not  chosen  by  Him 
in  order  to  conceal  His  meaning,  but  in  order  to 
convey  it  to  those  for  whom  it  is  intended.  It  is 
with  Him  either  to  teach  thus  or  not  to  teach  at 
all;  and  He  consequently  teaches  thus.  This  is 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  parabolic  teaching. 
I  do  not  say  it  is  the  whole  account  to  be  given  of 
it;  we  may  see  in  the  sequel  that  there  is  more  to 
say,  and  that  the  adoption  of  paraboHc  teaching 
has  a  punitive  side — as,  indeed,  it  could  not  fail 
to  have — with  reference  to  those  who  could  and 
would  not  endure  sound  doctrine;  whom  it  puz- 
zled, therefore,  rather  than  instructed.  But  this 
is  the  fundamental  account  of  it. 

We  may  see  this  from  an  illustration.  Take 
as  such  the  teaching  which  was  the  immediate 
occasion  of  these  remarks  of  our  Lord's.  He 
had  just  been  delivering  the  first  cycle  of  the 
parables  of  the  Kingdom.  Why  had  He  taught 
the  fundamental  facts  as  to  the  Kingdom  in  par- 
ables? Briefly,  because  He  could  not  have  taught 
them  in  any  other  way.  For  His  conception  of 
the  Kingdom  was  at  just  the  antipodes  of  that  of 
the  people  He  was  addressing.     Should  he  have 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING  57 

plainly   and   didactically   proclaimed   just   what 
their  error  was,  just  what  the  truth  was?     He 
certainly  would  have  been  understood  in  that 
case.     But  there  would  have  been  an  end  to  His 
teaching  and  so  of  His  mission  as  Teacher.     And 
so,  instead,  He  told  them  some  beautiful  stories. 
In  these  stories  He  embodied  the  whole  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  the  Kingdom.     What  was  the 
effect?     To  those  open   to   His   instruction   the 
whole  doctrine  of  the  Kingdom  was  conveyed. 
Those  not  receptive  to  it  were  simply  puzzled; 
instead  of  being  outraged  and  driven  to  violence, 
they  were  simply  puzzled  and  thrown  back  into 
dull  inertia.     When  He  said,   the   Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  like  the  sower,  and  the  like,  they  could 
only  look  perplexed  and  shake  their  heads.     The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  as  they  understood  it  was 
like  nothing  less  than  these  things.     What  could 
He  mean?     And  thus  He  obtained  opportunity — 
the  Great  Sower  that  He  was — to  sow  His  seed 
and  to  exemplify  His  own  parable.      Meanwhile 
receptive  souls  pondered  and  understood,  under- 
stood, that  is,  more  or  less.     For  even  His  own 
disciples,  nay,  the  Apostles  themselves,  were  not 
yet  capable  of  receiving  the  truth  in  its  purity 
and  entirety.     And,  accordingly  to  them  too.  He 
taught  as  occasion  offered,  in  parables,  by  which 
He  lodged  the  truth  in  their  minds  that  it  might 
germinate  and  grow. 

Nothing  is  more  obvious  than  that  this  wise 


58  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

prudence  in  the  mode  of  disseminating  the  truth 
has  nothing  in  common  with  esoteric  teaching; 
and  our  Lord's  broad  denial  of  esoterism  was  as 
justified  as  it  was  needed.  A  lamp  that  is  shaded 
is  shaded,  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  lamp,  as  if  it 
were  too  good  for  common  use,  or  existed  for  some 
other  end  than  enlightening,  but  for  some  extrinsic 
end.  There  may  be  a  violence  of  wind  from  which 
it  needs  temporary  protection;  there  may  be  weak- 
ness of  eyes  which  require  guarding.  So  with  the 
truth  which  Jesus  came  to  teach.  It  is  not  too 
sacred  for  the  knowledge  of  men;  it  exists  to  be 
known.  But  it  may  require  temporary  protec- 
tion from  violent  opposition;  it  may  require 
veiling  because  of  the  weakness  of  men's  under- 
standing. Hence  it  is  spoken  under  the  veil  of 
parables.  But  this  is  that  it  may  be  spoken, 
that  it  may  be  made  known,  and  not  that  it  may 
be  concealed.  No  crypticism,  no  apocryphalism 
is  in  place  here ! 

Accordingly,  then,  within  this  declaration  there 
is  embodied  also  an  urgent  exhortation.  It  is 
interlaced  with  the  declaration  in  this  passage  of 
Mark^so  as  to  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from  it. 
Elsewhere  it  is  brought  out  most  explicitly  and 
with  tremendous  emphasis.  It  is  an  exhortation 
to  the  recipients  of  the  truth  to  see  to  it  that  it  is 
not  quenched  in  the  darkness  of  their  own  hearts, 
but  permitted  to  act  in  accordance  with  its  nature 
as  light — to  shine.     In  Matthew,  for  example,  we 


i 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING  59 

read:  "Even  so  let  your  light  shine  before  men, 
that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Here  it  appears 
only  in  the  way  of  implication.  Jesus  says  in 
eflFect:  The  truth  I  am  delivering  in  this  veiled 
form  is,  like  all  truth,  of  the  nature  of  light;  it 
comes  to  enlighten;  temporarily  it  is  veiled,  but, 
emphatically,  it  is  hid  only  that  it  may  be  man- 
ifested; it  is  made  secret  only  that  it  may  come 
to  light.  Ye  are  my  chosen  witnesses;  to  you  I 
say  with  significant  emphasis,  "If  any  man  have 
ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear."  There  is  a  subtle 
implication  that  not  the  truth  only  which  He 
spoke  is  the  lamp,  brought  to  be  put  on  the  stand; 
but  these  disciples  of  His,  to  whom  the  truth  has 
been  brought,  have  been  lighted  by  the  truth, 
and  having  been  lighted,  are  lighted  that  they  too 
may  shine.  In  effect,  there  is  a  solemn  commis- 
sion given  here  to  His  disciples — not  to  His 
Apostles  only,  but  (as. verse  10  shows),  to  the 
whole  body  of  His  disciples,  to  see  to  it  that  what 
He  is  now  preaching  in  parables  shall  be  in  its 
due  season  brought  out  on  the  housetop.  There 
is  careful  provision  made,  in  a  word,  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  seed  He  was  now  sowing.  He  was 
speaking  in  parables — the  times  required  it — but 
they  are  to  see  to  it  that  what  is  thus  taught 
veiledly  shall  in  due  time  be  announced  openly. 

No  doubt,  in  this  whole  procedure,  there  is  di- 
vine sanction  given  to  the  principle  of  wise  adap- 


60  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tation  of  our  preaching  to  times  and  circum- 
stance. But,  O,  how  easy  it  is  to  misapply  this 
principle  and  pervert  it  to  cowardly  ends  of  per- 
sonal profit.  Preach  to  our  times?  Yes,  of 
course.  But  preach  what  to  our  times?  Our 
Lord's  example  does  not  give  warrant  to  the  sup- 
pression of  unpalatable  truth.  It  only  sets  an 
example  of  how  still  to  preach  the  unpalatable 
truth  while  staving  off  for  the  fitting  time  the 
inevitable  rupture,  and  providing  for  its  full 
proclamation  in  the  end.  He  spoke  in  parables? 
Why  in  parables?  First,  because  by  speaking  in 
parables,  He  could  still  teach  the  unpalatable 
truth.  If  He  had  been  willing  to  suppress  the 
unpalatable  truth  He  would  have  had  no  need  of 
preaching  in  parables.  There  will  be  no  need  of  a 
veil  if  we  remove  the  thing  to  be  veiled.  And 
secondly,  because  He  would  so  teach  the  unpala- 
table truth,  that  men  must  needs  hear  it  before 
they  know  what  they  are  hearing,  and  thus  He 
would  catch  them  with  holy  guile.  You  see 
there  is  nothing  here  so  little  as  an  example  of 
suppression  of  the  truth.  There  is  only  an  exam- 
ple of  finding  a  way  to  preach  to  men,  despite 
their  opposition,  what  they  do  not  choose  to  hear. 
Christ  does  not  yield  to  men;  He  triumphs  over 
men.  And  this  is  the  commission  He  gives  to  us: 
Let  your  light  shine!  Do  not  think  you  are  imi- 
tating Him  when  you  quench  your  light;  when 
you  permit  the  clamours  of  men  to  drown  your 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING  61 

voice  of  teaching.  You  imitate  Him  only  when, 
despite  men's  opposition,  you  find  a  way  to  make 
your  voice  heard  and  the  truth  with  which  you 
are  charged  a  power  among  them.  Silent,  Christ 
was  not;  compromising.  He  was  not;  He  was 
only  persistently  inventive  in  modes  of  procla- 
mation. You  imitate  Him  least  of  all  when  you 
put  your  light  under  a  bushel  or  under  a  couch; 
to  be  like  Him  you  must  let  your  light  shine. 

It  is  already  clear  to  us,  no  doubt,  that  there  is 
implicit  in  this  passage  a  fully  developed  philos- 
ophy both  of  teaching  and  of  life.  Why  did 
Christ  preach  in  parables?  To  conceal  the  truth 
or  to  teach  the  truth?  The  proper  answer  is, 
of  course,  both.  The  two  are  not  mutually  ex- 
clusive. Fundamentally  we  say,  it  was  in  order 
to  teach  the  truth.  Proximately  it  was,  of  course, 
so  far  to  conceal  the  truth  as  to  be  able  to  teach 
it  in  the  circumstances  in  which  He  stood.  People 
who  would  not  listen  when  He  told  them  plainly 
what  the  Kingdom  He  came  to  found  was  like, 
would  listen  to  His  story  and  so  have  the  unpal- 
atable truth  told  them  before  they  were  aware. 
But  this  is  not  the  whole  story.  There  is  more 
to  be  said  and  Christ  says  it.  Truth  so  taught 
becomes  a  touchstone  and  discriminates  among 
men.  When  Jesus  said  "the  Kingdom  of  God 
is  like  to  .  .  ."  that  was  an  opening  familiar 
enough  to  the  whole  body  of  His  audience.  The 
most  rigid   Pharisee,   the  most  fanatical   zealot 


62  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

would  prick  up  his  ears  at  that.  But  when  He 
went  on  and  told  them  what — in  His  view — the 
Kingdom  of  God  was  like,  what  would  the  Phar- 
isee, what  would  the  zealot,  make  of  that?  Noth- 
ing. The  disciples  themselves  could  not  make 
much  of  it.  The  others  naturally  could  make 
nothing.  Thus,  the  method  of  teaching  by  par- 
ables, certainly  did  not  succeed  in  illuminating  all. 
The  plainest  teaching  under  heaven  could  not 
have  illuminated  those  minds.  They  were  too 
filled  with  preconceptions,  prejudices,  personal 
desires,  to  be  accessible  to  the  truth.  How  could 
veiled  teaching  dispel  their  darkness?  It  could 
only  avail  to  make  the  darkness  of  their  minds 
deeper;  they  could  only  say  in  puzzlement,  "We 
do  not  understand ! "  How  can  the  glorious  King- 
dom of  Heaven — God  come  to  triumph  over  Is- 
rael's foes,  how  can  this  be  like  the  sower  sowing 
His  seed,  and  the  like?  So  our  Saviour  explains 
that  the  teaching  is  given  to  them  in  parables, 
that  seeing  they  may  see  and  not  understand. 
In  effect,  parabolic  teaching  becomes  the  test  of 
men.  Whether  men  understand  or  do  not  under- 
stand the  teaching  veiled  in  the  parable,  is  the 
revelation  of  their  state  of  mind  and  heart,  or,  as 
it  is  fashionable  nowadays  to  call  it,  of  their 
receptivity.  Parabolic  teaching  then  comes  into 
the  world  as  a  rock  of  decision;  those  who  are 
open  to  the  truth  understand,  those  not  open  to 
the  truth  do  not  understand. 


LIGHT  AND  SHINING  63 

Observe  how  pointedly  our  Lord  develops  this 
idea  in  the  later  verses  of  our  passage;  with  what 
piercing  directness  He  asserts  the  effect  in  the 
last  verse  of  all :  For  he  that  hath  to  him  shall  be 
given,  and  he  that  hath  not  from  him  shall  be 
taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath.  Here  is 
the  underlying  philosophy  of  parabolic  teaching; 
and  along  with  it  of  all  teaching.  And  is  it  not 
so,  our  own  hearts  being  the  judge.?  Let  the 
parables  fall  on  the  ears  of  one  instructed  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  and  how  beautifully  rich  in 
their  teaching  they  are.  Points  of  attachment 
are  discovered  at  every  step  and  the  conceptions 
that  rest  half-formed  in  us  are  developed  in  the 
richest  manner.  Let  them  fall  on  the  minds  in 
which  no  thought  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  was 
ever  lodged;  and  they  are  but  as  rocks  in  the  sky. 
All  teaching  as  to  divine  and  heavenly  things  is, 
in  a  measure,  parabolic;  we  can  reach  above  the 
world  and  ourselves  only  by  symbols.  All  such 
teaching  comes  to  us,  then,  as  a  test,  and  the  prox- 
imate account  of  its  varied  reception  may  be 
found  in  the  condition  of  the  ears  that  hear  it. 
Have  we  ears  to  hear  this  music. f^  Or  does  it 
beat  a  vain  jangling  discord  only  in  our  ears.^* 
The  philosophy  of  the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  in 
the  world  rests  on  the  one  fact — the  condition  of 
the  hearer.  He  that  has  ears  to  hear,  hears; 
he  that  has  no  ears  to  hear  this  music,  remains 
unmoved. 


64  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Accordingly,  then,  the  passage  culminates  in 
a  great  warning.  "Take  heed  how  ye  hear." 
And  this  warning  is  supported  by  the  verses  al- 
ready incidentally  adduced:  "With  what  measure 
ye  mete  .  .  ."  ;  "He  that  hath  .  .  .  ;  He  that 
hath  not  ..."  The  warning  is,  of  course,  of 
universal  application.  It  is  spoken  here  to 
Christ's  immediate  disciples,  and  it  is  most  im- 
mediately a  warning  to  them  to  look  with  care 
and  loving  scrutiny  on  the  teaching  He  was  giv- 
ing about  the  Kingdom.  Do  you  not  fail,  it 
says,  to  hear  and  ponder;  to  understand  and 
profit  by  this  teaching.  But  it  stretches  further. 
As  we,  too,  are  His  disciples  it  comes  in  these 
times  also  to  us.  Let  us  not  fail  to-day  to  hear 
and  ponder  and  understand  and  profit  by  the 
teaching  brought  to  us  by  these  pungent  words! 


CHILDLIKENESS 

Mark  10:15: — "Verily  I  say  unto  you.  Whosoever  shall  not  re- 
ceive the  Kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
therein." 

The  declaration  embodied  in  this  verse,  ap- 
parently very  simple,  and  certainly  perfectly 
clear  in  its  general  sense,  is  not  without  its  per- 
plexities when  examined  in  its  detailed  implica- 
tions. The  occasion  of  its  enunciation  was  an 
incident  in  the  life  of  our  Lord  which  manifests 
His  beautiful  tenderness  as  few  others  of  those 
narrated  in  the  Gospels.  In  the  prosecution  of 
His  mission  He  went  up  and  down  the  land,  as  we 
are  told,  "doing  good."  It  was  characteristic 
of  His  teaching  that  the  common  people  heard 
Him  gladly.  It  was  of  the  essence  of  the  benefi- 
cent impression  that  He  made  that  He  drew  to 
Him  all  who  were  afflicted  and  were  suffering 
with  diverse  diseases. 

The  Evangelists  stud  their  narratives  thickly 
with  accounts  of  how  the  people  flocked  to  him, 
bringing  all  their  sick  and  receiving  from  Him 
healing  of  body  and  mind.  This  appeared  to 
His  closest  followers  well  worth  while.  It  was  all 
part  of  his  office  as  One  sent  from  God  to  heal  the 
hurt  of  Israel.  But  the  people  did  not  stop 
there.     Mothers  brought  their  babies  also  to  Him, 

65 


66  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

and  asked  Him  to  lay  His  hands  on  them  and  bless 
them,  too.  Here  His  disciples  drew  the  line. 
These  babies  were  not  sick  and  did  not  need  the 
healing  touch  of  the  Great  Physician.  By  the 
very  fact  that  they  were  babies  they  were  incap- 
able of  profiting  by  His  wonderful  words.  To 
intrude  them  upon  His  attention  was  to  interfere 
unwarrantably  with  His  prosecution  of  His  press- 
ing labors,  and  to  supplant  those  who  had  superior 
claims  on  His  time  and  strength.  So  the  dis- 
ciples rebuked  the  parents  and  would  fain  have 
sent  the  babies  away. 

But  the  Lord,  perceiving  what  was  toward,  was 
moved  with  indignation  and  intervened  with  His 
great,  "Let  the  little  children  come  to  me,  pre- 
vent them  not."  And  taking  them  in  His  own 
arms.  He  laid  His  hands  on  them  and  blessed 
them;  the  word  employed  being  a  very  emphatic 
one,  meaning  a  calhng  down  fervently  of  blessings 
upon  the  objects  of  the  prayer.  The  mothers 
went  away  comforted,  bearing  their  blessed  babies 
in  their  arms. 

What  a  picture  we  have  here  of  the  Master's 
loving -kindness !  It  is  not  strange  if,  when  we 
read  the  narrative,  we  stop,  first  of  all,  to  adore 
and  love  Him.  It  is  a  revelation  of  the  charac- 
ter of  Jesus;  and  what  can  we  contemplate  with 
more  profit  than  the  character  of  Jesus .^  But 
we  soon  begin  to  realize  that  the  incident  is 
freighted  with    instruction   for  us  relatively   to 


CHILDLIKENESS  67 

our  Lord's  mission  as  well,  and  to  question  what 
messages  it  brings  us  from  this  point  of  view. 
We  ask  why  was  our  Lord  "moved  with  indigna- 
tion" at  His  disciples  for  intercepting  the  ap- 
proach of  the  mothers  with  their  babies  to  Him. 
They  meant  well;  surely  He  needed  protection 
from  unnecessary  and  useless  draughts  upon  His 
energies.  Indignation  was  certainly  out  of  place 
unless  there  was  some  very  harmful  misunder- 
standing somewhere. 

And  so  it  begins  to  dawn  upon  us  that  the  dis- 
ciples ought  to  have  known  better.  And  that 
means  ultimately  that  they  ought  to  have 
known  better  than  to  suppose  that  Jesus'  mis- 
sion was  summed  up  in  instruction  and  heal- 
ing. Were  this  all  that  it  was,  it  had  been  right 
enough  to  exclude  the  babies  from  His  pres- 
ence. Only  if  He  had  something  for  these  babies 
too;  only  if  His  blessing  on  them — not  needing 
healing  and  incapable  of  instruction — neverthe- 
less, brought  to  them  the  supreme  benefit;  would 
it  be  a  crime  to  shut  them  out  from  His  oJ95ces. 
Whence  we  may  learn  that  the  blessing  which 
Jesus  brought  was  something  above  His  instruc- 
tion and  superior  to  His  healing  ministry.  A 
great  physician,  yes;  a  prophet  come  from  God, 
yes;  but  above  and  beyond  these,  the  bearer  of 
blessings  which  could  penetrate  even  to  the  help- 
less babes  on  their  mothers'  breasts. 

Perhaps  if  the  disciples  stopped  short  of  this, 


68  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

it  is  not  inexplicable  that  men  of  to-day,  having 
proceeded  so  far,  should  show  a  tendency  to  stop 
right  here  and  utilize  this  much  gain  with  such 
devotion  that  they  do  not  stay  to  search  further. 
We  have  obviously  here  a  warrant  for  infant 
baptism,  they  say.  For  does  not  Jesus  declare 
that  infants  are  to  be  permitted  to  come  to  Him 
and  are  not  to  be  hindered — aflSrming  further 
that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  of  such,  and  taking 
them  in  His  arms  and  blessing  them.^  And  can 
His  Church,  representing  Him  on  earth,  do  less.^^ 
Must  not  His  Church  suffer  the  infants  to  be 
brought  to  Him  and  take  them  in  her  arms  and 
mark  them  with  His  name  and  bless  them.'^  Nay, 
say  others,  this  and  more:  A  warrant  here  for  con- 
fidence in  the  salvation  of  infants.  For  how  can 
we  believe  that  He  who  on  earth  so  tenderly  and 
solemnly  took  them  in  His  arms  and  blessed  them, 
forbidding  their  access  to  Him  to  be  hindered, 
will  now  in  heaven  refuse  to  receive  them  when 
they  come  flocking  to  His  arms?  And  does  He 
not  distinctly  declare  that  the  Kingdom  of  God 
belongs  to  such;  and  does  that  not  mean  first  of 
all — whatever  else  it  may  mean — just  this  simple 
thing,  that  infants  as  such  are  citizens  of  His 
heavenly  kingdom  and  must  be  accredited  with 
all  the  rights  of  that  heavenly  citizenship.^ 

It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  stop  and  examine 
the  validity  of  these  inferences.  Let  it  be  enough 
for  us  to-day  to  note  clearly,  merely  that  they  are 


CHILDLIKENESS  69 

inferences.  And  having  noted  that  they  are  in- 
ferences, let  us  for  the  moment  at  least  pass  them 
by,  and  engross  ourselves  in  the  teaching  which  is 
explicit  and  for  the  sake  of  which,  therefore,  we 
must  suppose  that  the  incident  is  recorded.  For 
our  Lord  did  not  leave  His  disciples  to  draw  in- 
ferences from  the  incident,  unaided.  He  draws 
one  for  them;  and  that  one  is  what  we  have 
chosen  as  the  subject  of  our  meditation  to-day. 
In  this  inference  He  withdraws  our  minds  from 
the  literal  children  He  had  taken  and  blessed, 
and  focuses  them  upon  the  spiritual  children  who 
should  constitute  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

You  will  observe  that  He  passes  at  once  from 
the  one  to  the  other.  When  He  says  "For  of 
such  is  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  He  does  not  mean 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God  consists  of  literal  in- 
fants, but  rather  of  those  who  are  like  infants. 
You  may  assure  yourselves  of  this  by  turning  to 
the  first  beatitude:  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit;  for  theirs" — or  "of  them" — "is  the  King- 
dom of  heaven."  That  is  to  say,  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven  belongs  to — or  is  constituted  of — the 
"poor  in  spirit."  So,  here,  if  what  were  in- 
tended were  that  the  Kingdom  of  God  belongs  to 
— is  constituted  of — infants,  we  should  have: 
"For  of  them''— or  "theirs"—"  is  the  Kingdom  of 
God."  What  we  do  have,  however,  is  not  that, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  "For  of  such  as  they — of 
their    like — is    the    Kingdom    of    heaven."     The 


70  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Kingdom  of  heaven  is  declared,  therefore,  to  be 
constituted  not  of  children  but  of  the  childlike. 
And  the  declaration  is  at  once  clinched  by  the 
words  of  our  text,  introduced  by  the  solemn 
formula  "Verily,"  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Who- 
soever shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God  as  a 
little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein." 

The  message  which  the  incident  is  made  by  our 
Lord  to  bring  us,  therefore, — and  which,  accord- 
ingly, the  passage  directly  teaches  us  with  no 
inferences  of  ours — does  not  concern  either  in- 
fant baptism  or  infant  salvation,  but  distinctly 
the  constitution  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
Kingdom  of  God,  it  asserts,  is  made  up,  not  of 
children,  but  of  the  childlike.  And  that  con- 
cerns directly  you  and  me.  The  Kingdom  of 
God,  our  text  asserts,  is  made  up  of  people  like 
these  children  whom  our  Lord  took  in  His  arms 
and  blessed.  And  that  being  so,  we  are  warned 
that  no  one  can  enter  that  Kingdom  who  does  not 
receive  it  "hke  a  little  child."  This  is  as  much  as 
to  say,  not  only  that  childlikeness  characterizes 
the  recipients  of  that  Kingdom,  but  that  child- 
likeness  is  the  indispensable  prerequisite  to  en- 
trance into  it.  It  certainly  behoves  you  and  me 
who  wish  to  be  members  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
to  know  what  this  childlikeness  means. 

Well,  many  think  at  once  of  the  innocence  of 
childhood.  The  statement  is,  in  effect  they  say, 
that  the  Kingdom  of  God  consists  solely  of  those 


CHILDLIKENESS  71 

who  are  in  their  moral  innocence  like  children. 
Only  such  can  enter  it.  A  grave  difficulty  at  once 
faces  us,  however,  when  we  enunciate  this  view. 
That  is  that  Jesus  does  not  seem  elsewhere  to 
announce  innocence  as  a — as  the — condition  of 
entrance  into  the  Kingdom  which  He  came  to 
establish.  On  the  contrary,  He  declared  that  He 
came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners,  and 
announced  that  His  mission  was  to  seek  and  save 
what  is  lost.  The  publicans  and  harlots.  He  tells 
us,  go  into  the  Kingdom  before  the  righteous 
Pharisees.  To  give  point  to  this  we  note  that  in 
Luke's  narrative  the  parable  of  the  publican  and 
pharisee  praying  in  the  temple  immediately  pre- 
cedes the  account  of  our  present  incident,  and  is 
placed  there  evidently  because  of  the  affinity  of 
the  two  narratives.  It  would  read  exceedingly 
oddly  if  the  publican  was  justified  and  the  phar- 
isee, with  all  his  righteousness,  rejected,  and  im- 
mediately afterwards  it  were  asserted  that  the 
Elngdom  was  solely  for  the  innocent.  No,  there 
is  nothing  clearer  than  that  Jesus'  mission  was 
specifically  to  those  who  were  not  innocent — that 
it  is  characteristic  of  those  who  enter  His  Kingdom 
that  they  do  not  feel  innocent — that,  in  a  word, 
the  Kingdom  is  built  up  from  and  by  the  "chief 
of  sinners"  like  Paul,  and  those  who  say  of  them- 
selves that  "if  any  man  say  he  hath  no  sin  he  is  a 
liar,  and  the  truth  is  not  in  him,"  like  John.  Not 
the  "righteous"  but  "sinners"  Jesus  came  to  save. 


72  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Remembering  the  pharisee  and  publican,  shall 
we  not  say,  then,  that  the  trait  of  childhood  here 
celebrated  is,  if  not  exactly  innocence,  at  least 
humility?  It  was  precisely  humility  that  char- 
acterized the  prayer  of  the  publican  and  our 
Lord  elsewhere  commends  humility  as  in  some 
sense  the  primary  Christian  grace.  "Blessed," 
He  says  in  that  first  beatitude,  which  we  have 
already  cited,  "blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for 
theirs — of  them — is  the  Kingdom  of  heaven." 
Is  not  this  an  express  parallel  to  our  present  pas- 
sage, saying  in  plain  words  what  is  here  said  in 
figure.'^  When  we  read,  then,  that  the  Kingdom 
of  heaven  belongs  to  those  who  are  childlike,  and 
only  he  can  enter  it  who  receives  it  as  a  child — is 
not  the  very  thing  meant,  that  none  but  the 
humble-minded,  the  poor  in  spirit,  can  possess 
the  Kingdom?  Indeed,  is  not  this  very  thing 
spoken  out  in  so  many  words  in  a  closely  related 
previous  incident  when  Jesus  took  a  child  and  set 
it  among  His  disciples,  as  they  were  disputing 
as  to  who  should  be  greatest,  and  bade  them  to 
humble  themselves  and  become  as  that  little 
child  if  they  would  be  great  m  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven — enforcing  the  lesson  moreover  with  a 
declaration  almost  the  sa,me  as  that  of  the  text: 
"Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Except  ye  turn  and  be- 
come as  little  children,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  heaven"?  It  certainly 
seems  as  if  in  that  passage  at  least  the  humility 


CHILDLIKENESS  73 

of  little  children  is  just  the  thing  signalized,  and 
entrance  into  the  Kingdom  is  hung  on  the  pos- 
session of  that  specific  virtue. 

Even  in  that  passage,  however,  it  may  be  well 
to  move  warily.  Is  humility  the  special  charac- 
teristic of  childhood?  To  become  like  a  child 
may  certainly  be  an  act  of  humility  in  one  not  a 
child,  and  it  is  very  intelligible  that  our  Lord 
should,  therefore,  tell  those  whom  He  was  ex- 
horting to  become  like  a  child  that  they  can  only 
do  it  by  humbling  themselves.  But  is  that  quite 
the  same  as  saying  that  humility  is  the  charac- 
teristic virtue  of  childhood,  or  that  a  humble 
spirit  is  the  precedent  condition  of  entering  the 
Kingdom  of  heaven  .^^  We  seem  to  be  in  danger  of 
reading  the  passage  too  superficially.  Our  Lord 
tells  His  disciples  that  they  cannot  enter  the 
Kingdom  which  He  came  to  found  except  they 
turn  and  become  like  little  children;  and  He  tells 
them  that  they  cannot  become  like  little  children 
except  by  humbling  themselves,  and,  therefore, 
that  when  they  were  quarrelling  about  greatness 
they  were  not  "turning  and  becoming  like  little 
children."  But  He  does  not  seem  to  tell  them 
that  humility  of  heart  is  the  characterizing  quality 
of  childlikeness;  in  this  statement  it  is  rather  the 
pathw^ay  over  which  we  must  tread  to  attain 
something  else  which  is  the  characterizing  quality 
of  childlikeness.  Childlikeness  is  one  thing;  that 
by  which  that  state  is  attained  is  another. 


74  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Much  less  is  humility  suggested  to  us  in  our 
present  passage  as  the  constitutive  fact  of  child- 
likeness.  These  babies  that  Jesus  took  into  His 
arms,  in  what  sense  were  they  lowly  minded,  and 
the  types  of  humility  of  soul?  If  they  were  like 
other  children  of  their  age,  they  were  probably, 
so  far  as  they  showed  moral  characteristics  at  all, 
little  egotists.  There  is  no  period  of  life  so 
purely,  sharply,  unrelievedly  egotistic  as  infancy; 
and  there  is,  consequently,  no  period  of  life  less 
adapted  to  stand  as  the  typical  form  of  that 
lowliness  of  mind  which  seeks  another's,  not  one's 
own,  good. 

Others  have  gone  further  and  I  think  done  bet- 
ter, therefore,  when  they  have  suggested  that  it  is 
the  simplicity  of  childhood,  its  artlessness  and 
ingenuousness,  which  is  the  trait  which  our  Lord 
intends  when  He  declares  that  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  made  up  "of  such"  as  they,  and  that 
no  one  who  does  not  receive  that  Kingdom  like  a 
child — that  is,  in  childlike  simplicity  and  ingen- 
uousness— shall  enter  into  it.  Above  everything 
else  the  mental  life  of  a  child  is  characterized, 
perhaps,  by  directness.  It  lacks  the  sinuosities, 
double  motives,  complications,  of  the  adult  in- 
telligence. The  child  does  not  think  of  "serving 
two  masters,"  but  gives  itself  altogether  to  one 
thing  or  the  other,  and  possesses  at  least  the 
single  purpose  if  not  always  that  precise  single- 
ness of  eye  which  our  Lord  commends.     We  know 


CHILDLIKENESS  75 

what  an  encomium  our  Saviour  passed  on  that 
singleness  of  eye  because  of  which  the  whole  body 
should  be  full  of  light;  and  what  an  echo  of  this 
teaching  His  apostles  sound  in  the  praise  of  that 
singleness  of  heart  or  simplicity  of  soul  in  which 
they  make  the  Christian  disposition  to  consist. 
May  it  not,  then,  be  this  lack  of  duplicity  in 
thought  and  feeling,  this  clear  simplicity  of  heart 
which  results  in  singleness  of  devotion,  that  our 
Lord  declares  here  to  be  characteristic  of  child- 
hood and  of  those  spiritual  children  who  alone 
may  be  true  disciples? 

This  is  a  very  attractive  idea;  but  attractive  as 
the  idea  is,  it  seems  a  little  artificial  and  not  easily 
deducible  from  the  passage  itself.  It  might  fit 
very  well  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew — 
and,  indeed,  would  give  a  far  better  sense  there 
than  the  conception  of  humility;  but  it  seems  to 
be  outside  the  scope  of  our  present  passage. 
These  children  were  mere  babies — and  in  what 
clear  and  outstanding  sense  are  babies  charac- 
terized by  simplicity  of  heart  and  singleness  of 
soul.^^ 

We  feel,  then,  that  a  great  step  is  taken  when 
others  step  in  and  suggest  that  the  particular 
trait  which  our  Saviour  has  in  mind  when  He  de- 
clares that  only  the  childlike  can  enter  His  King- 
dom is  the  trustfulness  of  the  child.  Here  we 
touch,  indeed,  what  seems  really  the  fundamental 
trait  of  the  truly  childish  mind,  that  colors  all  its 


76  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

moral  life,  and  constitutes,  not  merely  its  dominant 
but  we  might  almost  say,  its  entire  disposition — 
implicit  trustfulness.  The  age  of  childhood  is, 
above  everything  else,  the  age  of  trust.  De- 
pendent upon  its  elders  for  everything,  the  whole 
nature  of  the  child  is  keyed  to  trust;  on  trust  it 
lives,  and  by  means  of  trust  it  finds  all  its  means  of 
existence.  Its  virtues  and  its  faults  alike  grow 
out  of  trust  as  its  fundamental  characteristic. 
There  is  no  picture  of  perfect  and  simple  and  im- 
plicit trust  discoverable  in  all  the  world  com- 
parable to  the  picture  of  the  infant  lying  peace- 
fully and  serenel}^  on  its  mother's  bosom.  And 
we  must  remember  that  this  is  the  spectacle  that 
our  Lord  had  before  Him.  The  mothers  were 
bringing  their  babies  to  Him  to  be  blessed;  He 
looked  at  them  as  they  approached;  and,  observ- 
ing the  utter  trustfulness  of  the  attitude  of  the 
child  reclining  in  the  nest  of  its  mother's  arms. 
He  announced  that  here  is  the  type  of  the  King- 
dom of  God  and  of  its  children.  In  these  trust- 
ing babies  He  saw  the  symbol  of  the  citizens 
of  His  Kingdom.  "Of  such  as  these,"  He  de- 
clared, *'is  the  Kingdom  of  God";  and  then  He 
added  that  no  man  who  did  not  receive  the  King- 
dom like  one  of  these  little  trustful  babies,  could 
even  enter  it.  Trust,  simple,  utter  trust,  that  is 
the  pathway  to  the  Kingdom. 

We  cannot  doubt  that   in  thus   directing  its 
attention   to   the   trustfulness   of   little   children 


CHILDLIKENESS  77 

as  their  characteristic  trait,  the  mind  has  been 
turned  in  the  right  direction  for  the  proper  un- 
derstanding of  our  Lord's  declaration.  But  even 
yet,  I  think,  we  have  scarcely  reached  the  bot- 
tom fact.  You  will  observe  that  all  the  supposi- 
tions hitherto  made  move  in  the  subjective  sphere. 
Dispositions  of  mind  alone  have  been  suggested; 
men  have  been  seeking  to  discover  the  disposi- 
tion of  mind  which  is  most  characteristic  of  child- 
hood; to  which  we  may  suppose,  therefore,  that 
our  Saviour,  referred,  when  He  declared  that  His 
disciples  must  be  like  children  if  they  would  enter 
His  Kingdom.  But  our  passage  says  nothing 
of  dispositions  of  mind;  and  why  should  we.^^ 

Why  not  seek  an  objective  characteristic  here? 
These  babies,  which  Christ  took  in  His  arms — 
what  dispositions  of  mind  had  they.^^  We  must 
now  revert  to  the  narrative,  and  observe  with 
care  that  these  children  were,  in  point  of  fact, 
mere  babies.  Perhaps  we  have  been  thinking  of 
them  rather  as  well-grown  children,  and  picturing 
them  as  standing  around  our  Lord's  knees,  giving 
Him  eager,  if  wondering  attention,  as  He  spoke  to 
them.  Nothing  of  the  kind.  They  were  babies 
in  arms,  perhaps  of  only  a  few  weeks  or  months 
old,  perhaps  of  only  a  few  days.  TJiey  had  no 
disposition  of  mind.  Luke  calls  them  distinctly 
infants,  and  speaks,  therefore,  of  their  being 
brought  as  remarkable:  "They  were  bringing  to 
Him  even  their  babies."     And  that  is  the  reason 


78  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

why  the  disciples  rebuked  their  parents  for  bring- 
ing them — mere  babies  who  could  get  nothing 
from  the  Master.  The  same  thing  is  less  clearly 
but  equally  really  suggested  in  the  other  narra- 
tives; we  read  that  they  were  brought;  that 
Jesus  took  them  in  His  arms,  and  the  like.  We 
must  think  of  them,  then,  as  distinctively  babies. 
What  dispositions  of  soul  were  characteristic  of 
them.^  Just  none  at  all.  They  lay  happy  and 
thoughtless  in  their  mother's  arms  and  in  Jesus' 
own  arms.  Their  characteristic  was  just  helpless 
dependence;  complete  dependence  upon  the  care 
of  those  whose  care  for  them  was  necessary. 
And  it  would  seem  that  it  is  just  this  objective 
helpless  dependence  which  is  the  point  of  com- 
parison between  them  and  the  children  of  the 
Kingdom. 

What  our  Lord  would  seem  to  say,  then,  when 
He  says:  "Of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  heaven,"  is 
that  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  is  made  up  of  those 
who  are  helplessly  dependent  on  the  King  of  the 
Heavens.  And  when  He  adds  that  only  those 
who  "receive"  the  Kingdom  like  a  child  can 
enter  into  it  He  seems  to  mean  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Kingdom  come  into  it  hke  chil- 
dren of  the  world  into  the  world — naked  and 
stripped  of  everything,  infants  who  are  to  be 
done  for,  who  can  not  do  for  themselves. 
There  is  every  indication  of  this  as  our  Lord's 
meaning.      Among  others  we  note  that  the  rec- 


CHILDLIKENESS  79 

ord  of  the  incident  is  followed  immediately  in 
all  three  Gospels  by  the  record  of  the  incident 
of  the  rich  young  man — which  goes  on,  you  see, 
to  illustrate  the  same  idea.  For  what  was  the 
trouble  with  the  rich  young  man?  Just  this: 
that  he  could  not  divest  himself  of  everything  and 
come  into  the  Kingdom  naked.  "He  had  great 
possessions."  "How  hard,  children," — this  "chil- 
dren" is  possibly  a  reminiscence  of  His  demand 
that  they  should  be  "like  children" — "children, 
how  hard  it  is  for  a  rich  man — or  for  anyone — to 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  heaven."  Into  this  King- 
dom we  can  enter  only  as  poor  and  naked  and 
helpless  as  children  enter  the  world.  That  we 
have  nothing  is  the  condition  that  we  may  have 
all  things.  Perhaps  it  may  not  be  too  much  even 
to  say  that  what  the  passage  teaches  is  that  we 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  as  we  enter  the 
world  only  by  a  birth — a  birth  which  comes  to  us 
— which  we  do  not  secure.  In  that  case  we  have  a 
parallel  passage  in  the  third  chapter  of  John  which 
is  one  of  the  very  few  passages  in  John  where  the 
term  "Kingdom  of  God"  occurs. 

The  upshot  of  it  all  is,  then,  this:  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  is  not  taken — acquired — laid 
hold  of;  it  is  just  "received."  It  comes  to  men, 
men  do  not  come  to  it.  And  when  it  comes  to 
men,  they  merely  "receive"  it,  "as" — "like" — 
"a  Httle  child."  That  is  to  say,  they  bring  noth- 
ing to  it  and  have  nothing  to  recommend  them  to 


80  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

it  except  their  helplessness.  They  depend  wholly 
on  the  King.  Only  they  who  so  receive  it  can 
enter  it;  no  disposition  or  act  of  their  own  com- 
mends them  to  it.  Accordingly  the  Kingdom  of 
God  is  "of  such  as  little  children."  The  helpless 
babe  on  the  mother's  breast,  then,  now  we  can 
say  it  with  new  meaning,  is  the  true  type  of  the 
Christian  in  his  relation  to  God.  It  is  of  the 
very  essence  of  salvation  that  it  is  supernatural. 
It  is  purely  a  gift,  a  gift  of  God's;  and  they  who 
receive  it  must  receive  it  purely  as  a  gift.  He 
who  will  not  humble  himself  and  enter  it  as  a 
little  child  enters  the  world,  in  utter  nakedness 
and  complete  dependence,  shall  never  see  it. 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD 

John  1:1: — "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God." 

The  first  verse  of  the  Gospel  of  John  contains 
one  of  the  most  weighty  statements  of  the  deity 
of  our  Lord  in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  not 
the  only  weighty  statement,  much  less  the  only 
distinct  statement,  of  the  deity  of  our  Lord  in 
the  New  Testament.  Rather,  the  whole  New 
Testament  is  a  testimony  to  our  Lord's  deity; 
and  we  can  read  no  part  of  it  sympathetically 
without  catching  this  note  sounding  through  it. 

Particularly  we  need  to  disabuse  our  minds  of 
the  banality  by  which  the  Synoptic  Gospels  used 
to  be  distinguished  as  the  Gospels  of  the  human 
Jesus,  from  the  Gospel  of  John  as  the  Gospel  of 
the  Divine  Jesus.  The  Synoptic  Gospels  teach 
the  deity  of  Jesus  as  truly  and,  indeed,  as  em- 
phatically as  the  Gospel  of  John,  though  not  in 
precisely  the  same  manner.  Whatever  else 
William  Wrede  did  or  did  not  do  with  his  book  on 
the  Gospel  of  Mark,  he  made  it  impossible  for- 
ever afterwards  to  look  upon  Mark  as  a  naive  col- 
lection of  all  that  His  followers  could  recall  of  the 
human  Jesus;  and  Johannes  Weiss  will  not  be 
gainsaid  when  he  points  out  that  the  Jesus  of  "the 

81 


82  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

oldest  Gospel"  has  already  advanced  far  toward 
the  Jesus  of  the  latest  Gospel.  He  is  to  be  crit- 
icized only  for  speaking  of  an  "advance"  in  this 
connexion,  and  of  that  *' advance"  as  not 
quite  complete.  Recent  critics  are  fairly  falling 
over  one  another  in  their  rush  to  recognize  that 
the  conception  of  a  Divine  Messiah  was  not  only 
Primitive-Christian,  but  Pre-Christian,  and  that 
belief  in  the  deity  of  Jesus,  was,  therefore,  al- 
ready included  in  acceptance  of  Him  as  Messiah. 
We  meet  no  new  thing,  then,  when  we  read  in 
the  first  verse  of  John's  Gospel  a  crisp  declara- 
tion that  Jesus  is  God.  But  we  do  meet  some- 
thing new  in  the  manner  in  which  this  declaration 
is  made.  It  would  not  be  quite  exact  to  say  that 
it  is  new  that  John  begins  his  Gospel  with  a  dec- 
laration of  the  deity  of  Jesus.  Mark  also  begins 
his  Gospel  with  a  declaration  of  the  deity  of  Jesus; 
if,  at  least,  the  reading  is  right  which  makes  him 
use  the  term,  "the  Son  of  God,"  in  his  opening 
sentence — "The  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  It  can  hardly  be  main- 
tained that  the  "Son  of  God"  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood here  in  its  ontological  sense.  The  differ- 
ence between  the  Synoptics  and  John  here  is  only 
a  difference  in  what  we  may  call  their  mode  of 
approach  to  the  common  theme.  It  would  not 
be  misleadingly  expressed  if  we  said  that  in  the 
Synoptics  the  divine  nature  of  the  man  Jesus  is 
exhibited,  while  in  John  the  human  life  of  the 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD  83 

divine  Word  is  portrayed.  In  this  sense,  John 
does  take  his  start  from  the  deity  of  our  Lord  as 
the  Synoptics  do  not.  The  deity  of  our  Lord  is 
made  by  John  his  point  of  departure  in  his  dehnea- 
tion  of  this  divine  hfe  in  the  world,  while  the  Syn- 
optics take  their  start  from  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
or  the  opening  of  his  public  ministry. 

It  is  due  to  this  difference  that  John's  Gospel 
alone  opens  with  a  prologue,  which  takes  us  back 
at  once  into  the  depths  of  Eternal  Reality,  and 
tells  us  who  and  what  that  being  actually  was, 
whose  life-history  in  the  world  is  about  to  be 
depicted.  There  is  probably  no  more  pregnant 
piece  of  writing  in  the  world  than  this  prologue  to 
John's  Gospel.  And  there  is  no  part  of  this  preg- 
nant prologue  more  pregnant  than  its  first  verse. 
There  are  just  seventeen  words  in  it;  we  can 
count  only  eight  different  words  in  it:  but  these 
few  words  are  simply  bursting  with  significance. 
In  the  first  place,  our  Lord  is  designated  here 
by  a  unique  name,  and  that  a  name  big  with 
meaning.  And  then,  under  this  unique  name, 
three  declarations  are  calmly  made  of  Him — so 
calmly  as  almost  to  betray  us  into  taking  them  as 
mere  matters  of  course — each  of  which,  separately 
considered,  is  of  tremendous  import,  and  the  three 
together,  in  combination,  of  more  tremendous 
import  still.  When  we  have  read  these  three 
limpid  sentences — *'In  the  beginning  was  the 
Word,  and  the  Word  was  with   God,  and  the 


84  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Word  was  God" — we  have  read  things  which 
even  the  angels,  desiring  to  look  into  them,  might 
well  despair  of  plumbing. 

When  we  say  that  the  name  given  here  to  our 
Lord — the  "Word" — is  unique,  we  have,  of 
course,  the  New  Testament  only  in  mind.  And 
even  so,  to  be  absolutely  exact,  we  must  note 
that  John  repeats  it  a  little  lower  down  in  this 
prologue,  when  he  tells  us  of  this  Word,  here  de- 
clared to  have  been  in  the  beginning,  with  God, 
and  Himself  God,  that  he  became  flesh;  and  in- 
deed echoes  it  in  the  opening  words  of  his  first 
Epistle  and  in  a  splendid  description  of  the  con- 
quering Christ  in  the  Apocalypse.  These  in- 
stances, however,  do  not  abate  the  fact  that  this 
designation  belongs  in  a  very  special  sense  to 
these  opening  clauses  of  John's  prologue.  There 
is  nothing  to  prepare  us  for  it  here:  it  just  sud- 
denly appears  before  us  in  these  three  great  dec- 
larations in  unrelieved  startlingness.  And  per- 
haps the  most  striking  thing  about  it  is  that  John 
does  not  present  it  to  us  as  a  mysterious  designa- 
tion of  Jesus,  as  a  remarkable  designation  of  Him, 
or,  we  must  add,  even  as  a  new  designation  of 
Him.  He  employs  it  quite  simply  and  without 
apparent  consciousness  that  he  is  doing  anything 
either  startling  or  new. 

That  it  is  not  a  new  designation  of  our  Lord  to 
either  John  or  to  his  readers,  is  already  apparent 
from  the  fact  that  no  emphasis  falls  on  it  what- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD  85 

ever.  It  occurs  three  times,  it  is  true,  in  these 
three  short  clauses.  But  the  words  are  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  emphasis  is  always  thrown  else- 
where— on  what  is  asserted  of  the  Word,  not  on 
the  designation  itself — while  the  designation  ap- 
pears as  a  matter  of  course.  And  the  employ- 
ment of  the  same  designation  in  the  opening 
words  of  the  contemporaneous  First  Epistle  of 
John  is  a  clear  proof  that  it  was  not  first  applied 
to  our  Lord  in  this  prologue.  We  must  dismiss 
from  our  minds,  therefore,  the  fancy  that  John 
invented  the  designation,  "The  Word,"  for  our 
Lord.  We  must  suppose  it  to  have  been  a  current 
designation  of  our  Lord  in  the  circles  for  which 
John  was  writing,  and  that  it  needed  no  explana- 
tion from  him  of  its  meaning. 

Whence  the  term  came,  and  precisely  what 
it  means  when  applied  to  Jesus,  are,  of  course, 
another  matter.  We  cannot  talk  of  its  being 
borrowed  from  Philo,  or  from  the  philosophy 
which  Philo  represents.  There  is  nothing  more 
certain  than  that  John  does  not  use  it  in  the 
sense  which  it  bears  in  Philo,  or  in  the  philosophy 
which  lies  behind  Philo.  It  is  not  much  more 
likely  that  it  was  borrowed  directly  from  the 
native  Jewish  speculations,  which,  like  the  specu- 
lations of  Philo  and  those  whom  he  most  closely 
followed,  are  governed  by  the  need  for  something 
to  mediate  between  the  transcendent  God  and 
the  world  of  space  and  time.     But  this  general 


86  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

type  of  thinking  was  very  widely  diffused,  and 
the  modes  of  speech  which  it  developed  naturally 
penetrated,  in  more  or  less  modified  meanings, 
much  more  deeply  into  the  life  and  language 
of  the  people  than  the  conceptions  these  modes  of 
speech  were  invented  to  express.  All  terms 
of  this  sort  have  their  roots  in  some  system 
of  thought,  but  come  to  those  who  ultimately  em- 
ploy them  with  a  varied  history  behind  them,  in 
the  course  of  which  they  have  lost  much  of  the 
shades  of  suggestion  with  which  they  started,  and 
have  picked  up  others  on  the  way.  We  have  no 
safe  guidance  to  their  meaning  on  the  lips  of  any 
given  speaker,  except  his  actual  usage  of  them. 
And  to  judge  by  John's  actual  usage  of  the  term, 
"the  Word,"  applied  as  a  designation  to  our  Lord, 
it  has  travelled  far  indeed  from  its  Neo-Stoic  or 
Philonian  beginnings — if  those  were  its  begin- 
nings— ^before  it  reached  his  hands.  What  he 
means  by  it  is  obviously  so  different  from  what 
Philo  or  the  Neo-Stoics  meant  by  it,  that,  in  most 
important  respects,  it  is  its  precise  contradiction. 
What  is  clearest  about  it  is  that  he  uses  it  as  a 
designation  of  Jesus  of  the  highest  import,  as 
attributing  to  Him  properly  divine  functions,  if 
not  directly  a  properly  divine  nature.  As  a  man's 
word  is  the  expression  of  his  being,  so,  when  Jesus 
is  spoken  of  as  the  Word  by  way  of  eminence,  that 
is,  as  the  Word  of  God,  He  is  designated  as  the 
manifested  God. 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD  87 

Speaking  thus  of  Jesus  by  this  great  designation, 
John  makes  three  assertions  concerning  Him, 
In  the  first  of  these  he  declares  His  eternal  sub- 
sistence. In  the  second,  His  eternal  intercom- 
munion with  God.  In  the  third,  His  eternal 
identity  with  God.  Let  us  look  briefly  at  these 
three  great  assertions  in  turn. 

The  first  of  them  runs  in  our  English  version 
thus:  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word."  This 
rendering,  however,  scarcely  brings  out  its  full 
sense.  The  words  are  so  ordered  in  the  original 
as  to  throw  all  the  emphasis — and  it  is  a  strong 
emphasis — on  the  words,  "in  the  beginning,"  and 
"was."  The  verb  "was,"  in  other  words,  is  not  a 
mere  copula,  but  a  strong  assertion  of  existence. 
We  might  perhaps  bring  part  of  its  meaning  out 
by  changing  the  order  of  the  words  and  reading: 
"In  the  beginning  the  Word  was.'*  What  is  de- 
clared is  that  "in  the  beginning" — not  "from  the 
beginning"  but  "in  the  beginning," — when  first 
things  began  to  be,  the  Word,  not  came  into  being, 
so  that  He  might  be  the  first  of  those  things  which 
came  into  being,  but  already  was.  Absolute  eter- 
nity of  being  is  asserted  for  the  Word  in  as  pre- 
cise and  as  strong  language  as  absolute  eternity  of 
being  can  be  asserted.  The  Word  antedates  the 
beginning  of  things;  He  already  was — the  imper- 
fect of  continuous  existence — when  things  began 
to  be.  Go  back  now  to  the  first  verse  of  Genesis, 
of  which  there  is  an  obvious  echo  here,  and  read 


88  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

that  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth — the  Hebrew  periphrasis  for  the 
universe.  The  Word  already  was  before  God 
thus  began  to  speak  things  into  existence.  We 
cannot  be  surprised,  then,  to  read  in  the  next 
verse,  with  the  emphasis  of  accumulated  asser- 
tion, that  "all  things"  without  exception  "were 
made  by  Him,  and  apart  from  Him  there  was  not 
one  thing  made  which  has  been  made."  The 
Word  was  not  made;  He  always  was.  All  that 
has  been  made  was  made  by  Him. 

To  this  great  assertion  of  express  eternity  of 
being,  there  is  now  added  in  the  second  clause  an- 
other equally  great  assertion;  or  rather  a  greater 
assertion,  for  these  three  clauses  are  arranged  in  a 
climactic  series.  "In  the  beginning  the  Word 
already  was — and  the  Word  was  with  God." 
This  new  assertion  is  still  under  the  government 
of  the  words,  "in  the  beginning":  it  declares  the 
eternal  mode  of  existence  of  this  eternally  ex- 
istent Word.  And  the  mode  of  existence  declared 
for  Him  places  Him  in  an  ineffable  immediacy 
of  relation  to  God.  The  phrase,  "with  God," 
is  not  the  common  expression  for  "with  God," 
but  a  more  pregnant  one.  It  intimates  not  merely 
co-existence,  or  some  sort  of  local  relation, 
but  an  active  relation  of  intercourse.  The  Word, 
existing  from  all  eternity,  exists  from  all  eternity 
in  intercommunion  with  God.  His  eternal  exist- 
ence was  not  a  solitary  one.     A  relation  is  as- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD  89 

serted;  and  a  relation  implies  a  duality.  The 
relation  which  is  asserted  is  a  very  intimate  one; 
and  it  is  a  distinctly  personal  one.  There  can 
be  intercourse  only  between  persons.  When  it  is 
said,  then,  that  the  Word  "was" — it  is  still  the 
eternal  "was"  of  continuous  existence — "in  the 
beginning"  in  communion  with  God,  the  eternally 
distinct  personality  of  the  Word  is  not  obscurely 
suggested.  From  all  eternity  the  Word  sub- 
sisted alongside  of  God  in  personal  intercom- 
munion with  Him.  He  has  been  from  all  eternity 
God's  Fellow. 

The  intimacy  of  the  relation  intimated  is  start- 
lingly  brought  home  to  us  by  a  later  phrase  of 
this  prologue.  Here  we  are  told  in  language  of 
almost  unexampled  pregnancy  that  the  Word — 
called  on  this  occasion  by  the  tremendous  name 
of  "God  Only-begotten" — is  (the  timeless  pres- 
ent of  eternal  existence)  ceaselessly,  not  merely 
in,  but  "into  the  bosom  of  God."  This  is  the 
expression  for  the  closest  and  most  intimate  re- 
lation conceivable  for  persons;  and  the  language 
in  which  it  is  cast  conveys  the  idea  at  once  of  a 
continuation  of  its  unbroken  continuity  and  of  its 
ceaseless  renewal.  It  is  in  this  intimacy  of  com- 
munion that  the  Word  is  declared  to  have  been 
eternally  "with  God." 

But  even  this  great  assertion  is  not  enough  to 
declare  of  the  Word.  There  is  a  supplement  to 
even  it;   and  a  supplement  which  is  so  far  a  cor- 


90  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

rection  that  it  seems  purposely  added  to  prevent 
it  from  being  supposed  that  enough  has  already 
been  said.  The  Word  is  not  merely  even  thus 
closely  associated  with  God;  He  is  God  Himself. 
"And  the  Word  was  with  God — and  the  Word  was 
God."  Eternally  subsisting  alongside  of  and  in 
communion  with  God,  the  Word  is  yet  not  a 
separate  Being  over  against  God.  In  some  deep 
sense  distinct  from  God,  He  is  at  the  same  time  in 
some  high  sense  identical  with  God. 

It  is  difficult  to  reproduce  in  English  the  strength 
of  this  assertion.  The  term  "God"  not  only  oc- 
cupies the  position  of  emphasis,  but  is  placed  in 
immediate  juxtaposition  with  the  words  "with 
God"  of  the  preceding  clause,  and,  therefore,  in 
sharp  contrast  with  them.  The  term  "God" 
thus  comes  out  with  a  tremendous  corrective 
force.  "The  Word  was  with  God,  do  I  say — nay 
God  is  what  the  Word  was!''  The  rapidity  of  the 
movement  of  thought  and  the  stress  thrown  thus 
on  this  new  assertion  are  extreme.  The  meaning 
is  that  John  was  not  willing  to  have  the  one  state- 
ment made  without  its  complement  being  at  once 
added  to  it.  He  wishes  us  to  understand  that  it  is 
too  little  to  say  of  the  Word  even  that  He  is  God's 
co-eternal  Fellow.  We  must  say  of  Him  that  He 
is  the  eternal  God's  very  self. 

The  term  God  in  this  great  assertion  is  without 
the  article.  This  does  not  weaken  the  affirmation. 
It  is  primarily  merely  a  grammatical  fact.     The 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  WORD  91 

predicate  regularly  lacks  the  article;  quasi- 
proper  names,  like  "God,"  require  it  only  when 
an  individualizing  emphasis  is  necessary.  The 
bearing  of  the  absence  of  the  article  here  on  the 
force  of  the  assertion  is  that  thus  there  is  thrown 
into  relief  the  quality  of  Godhood  in  the  God  with 
whom  the  Word  is  identified.  Whatever  makes 
God  the  Being  which  we  call  God,  that  John 
affirms  the  Word  to  have  eternally  been.  Thus 
the  Word  is  with  the  utmost  energy  and  explica- 
tion asserted  to  be  all  that  God  is;  and  yet  the 
correction  of  the  assertion  that  the  Word  "was 
with  God"  as  incomplete,  is  not  pushed  into  a 
contradiction  of  it  as  untrue.  The  Word,  though 
identical  with  God,  is  not  in  such  a  manner  iden- 
tical with  God,  that  he  may  not  also  be  declared 
to  be  "with  God" — in  communion  with  God. 
There  remains  a  duality  of  Persons  standing  in 
the  express  relation  of  intercommunion,  while 
there  is  established  an  identity  of  Being.  What 
is  asserted  is  that  He  who  has  been  eternally  with 
God  has  been  at  the  same  time  in  an  ineffable 
fashion  eternally  God's  self. 

Certainly  these  are  three  tremendous  assertions 
which  John  makes  here  of  that  Word,  who,  hav- 
ing become  flesh,  we  know  as  Jesus  Christ — eter- 
nal subsistence,  eternal  intercommunion  with 
God,  eternal  identity  with  God.  The  conception 
in  which  they  can  combine  is  certainly  not  an  easy 
or  a  simple  one.     It  is  what  we  know  as  the  doc- 


92  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

trine  of  the  Trinity.  In  telling  us  who  and  what 
Jesus  Christ  really  is,  John  thus  introduces  us  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  If  we  were  told 
nothing  about  the  Trinity  except  what  we  are 
told  in  this  single  verse,  it  would  yet  lie  before  us 
in  its  whole  principle.  There  is  no  other  key 
which  will  unlock  the  mj^stery  of  the  eternal  Being 
of  the  Word  as  here  described  to  us.  We  are  but 
expressing  John's  meaning,  then — in  other  words, 
but  nevertheless  nothing  but  his  meaning — 
when  we  declare  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Second 
Person  of  the  Adorable  Trinity.  This  is,  in 
brief,  what  John  teaches  us  in  the  first  verse  of  his 
Gospel. 


LOOKING  TO  MEN 

Jno.  5:44: — "How  can  ye  believe,  which  receive  glory  one  of 
another,  and  the  glory  that  cometh  from  the  only  God  ye  seek  not?" 

The  fifth  chapter  of  John  marks  one  of  the  great 
turning  points  of  his  narrative.  Up  to  this  point, 
he  has  given  us  great  typical  representations  of 
how  Jesus  wrought  faith  in  the  hearts  of  His 
hearers — at  Jerusalem  (in  the  case  of  Nicodemus), 
in  Samaria  (in  the  case  of  the  Samaritan  woman), 
in  Galilee  (in  the  case  of  the  nobleman  of  Caper- 
naum). Now  he  begins  to  show  us  the  develop- 
ment of  the  opposition.  With  the  fifth  chapter 
the  conflict  begins;  and  in  three  great  typical  in- 
stances, each  gathering  around  a  miracle,  we  see 
how  Jesus'  work  gathered  opposition  to  itself, 
until  opposition  culminated  in  the  black  tragedy 
of  His  death.  Here  we  have  laid  bare  the  springs, 
nature  and  deeds  of  unbelief. 

Not  that  we  have  no  longer  an  exhibition  of 
Jesus  begetting,  by  word  and  work,  faith  in  His 
life-giving  Person.  In  each  instance  in  which  the 
process  of  the  hardening  of  unbelief  is  pictured  to 
us,  there  is  a  picture  of  faith  too,  in  contrast  with 
it.  The  impotent  man,  the  man  born  blind,  the 
family  of  Lazarus,  are  heroes  of  faith,  and  nothing 
can  be  more  beautiful  than  the  manner  in  which 

93 


94  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

it  is  shown  how  simple,  unsophisticated  faith  fixed 
itself  on  Jesus.  But  on  each  occasion  of  faith- 
begetting  work,  blind  unbelief  hardened  itself  to 
deeper  and  deeper  blackness,  and  it  is  this  progress 
which  forms  the  salient  feature  of  the  narrative. 

In  the  fifth  chapter  the  grounds  of  unbelief 
are  laid  bare  to  us,  as  rooted  in  an  essentially  self- 
seeking  and  worldly  spirit.  No  part  of  the  chap- 
ter is  unimportant  for  understanding  the  lesson 
which  is  most  pointedly  expressed  in  the  verse 
more  especially  before  us.  The  miracle  out  of 
which  grew  the  discourse,  of  which  this  verse  is 
the  culmination,  is,  of  course,  appropriate  to  its 
lesson;  and  the  conversation  and  discourse  are 
carried  inevitably  up  to  this  end. 

The  miracle  was  wrought  on  an  impotent  man, 
and  out  of  it  was  to  grow  the  discourse  which  was 
to  uncover  the  impotence  of  sinners,  on  their  own 
part,  to  believe  in  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Long 
had  the  man  lain  helplessly  by  the  very  pool  of 
healing,  where  the  ordinary  means  of  cure  were; 
but  he  had  no  power  to  make  a  healing  use  of 
them,  nor  was  there  any  to  help  him — until  Jesus 
passed  by  and  spoke  the  wonderful  word  of  heal- 
ing to  his  weary  soul.  But  it  was  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  the  Jews,  the  types  of  that  Pharisaic 
religiosity  which  loved  to  make  long  prayers  on 
the  corners  of  the  streets  and  to  make  broad  their 
phylacteries  to  be  seen  of  men,  whose  religion  in  a 
word  was  a  religion  for  men  to  mark  and  praise, 


LOOKING  TO  MEN  95 

at  once  judged  that  the  due  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  law  was  of  more  importance  than  the 
heahng  of  a  diseased  sinner.  At  once  are  brought 
into  contrast  the  religion  that  seeks  God's  ap- 
proval and  that  which  seeks  the  applause  of  men. 
Jesus  meets  the  healed  man  and  bids  him  sin  no 
more;  they  meet  Jesus  and  in  their  rage  at  the 
disregarding  of  their  laws  seek  to  slay  him. 

Our  Lord  does  not  permit  the  contrast  to  pass 
unnoticed.  And  this  is  the  burden  of  His  dis- 
course. All  He  did  was  of  the  Father  and  to  the 
Father  and  for  the  Father;  and  sought  only  His 
approval.  All  they  did  was  of  man  and  to  man 
and  for  the  approval  of  man.  His  eye  was  turned 
upwards,  theirs  downwards.  And,  therefore,  they 
were  impotent  to  believe  in  Him;  though  He,  the 
water  of  life,  was  in  their  reach,  they  could  not 
reach  out  and  take  and  live.  How  could  they  be- 
lieve, though  in  word  and  work  the  Father  was 
bearing  witness  to  Him,  when  they  cared  nothing 
for  the  Father,  but  only  for  men;  when  they  were 
receiving  glory  from  one  another  and  not  seeking 
glory  from  God,  the  Only  One. 

Now  note: — 

(1)  Our  Lord  asserts  that  the  Jews  were  unable 
to  believe.  He  asserts  a  true  inability  to  faith  in 
them;  but  by  no  means  allows  that  they  have 
thereby  become  irresponsible.  How  can  ye — how 
are  ye  able  to — believe.'^ 

(2)  He  traces  this  inability  to  its  source  in  a 


96  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

wrong  disposition.  He  asserts  that  the  reason 
that  they  could  not  believe  was  because  of  their 
condition  of  mind  and  heart.  How  are  ye  able  to 
believe,  seeing  that  ye  are  receiving  glory  one  of 
another  and  seek  not  the  glory  that  cometh  from 
the  Only  One.? 

(3)  The  special  sin  that  darkened  their  eyes  to 
Christ's  truth  and  worthiness  as  one  sent  from  God 
was  the  sin  of  hving  for  the  world's  eye,  not  God's; 
of  seeking  the  world's  applause,  not  God's  ap- 
proval. They  wished  a  Messiah  for  worldly 
glory,  not  for  salvation. 

The  passage  will  teach  us  then : 

(1)  That  a  true  inability  may  well  consist  with 
responsibility;  an  inability  that  rises  out  of  the 
moral  condition  and  is  constituted  by  the  im- 
manent choice. 

(2)  That  the  habit  of  living  for  the  applause 
of  our  fellow  men  in  religious  things  is  deadly  to 
the  religious  affections  and  life,  which  in  their 
very  nature  are  Godward  and  must  look  upwards 
only  to  Him. 

(3)  That  from  God  alone  can  true  glory  come; 
and  He  is  the  sole  source  of  the  Christian's 
glory. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  our  Lord  asserts 
of  these  Jews  that  they  could  not,  were  not  able, 
had  not  the  ability  to  believe.  And  He  assigns 
the  reason  for  this;  a  reason  not  derived  from  any 
outward  compulsion,  and  not  due  to  any  lack  of 


LOOKING  TO  MEN  97 

evidence.  They  had  sent  to  John  and  John  had 
testified  to  Jesus,  and  if  they  would  look  to  the 
Scriptures  they  witnessed  to  Him;  nay,  would 
they  look  to  heaven,  heaven  itself  bore  witness 
to  Him  in  His  wonderful  works.  They  were 
caught  in  a  network  of  evidence.  Whence  it  all 
the  more  fully  follows  that  if  they  believed  not,  it 
was  due  to  some  inabihty.  Yes,  a  true  inability, 
an  induration  of  beheving  tissue  which  rendered 
it  unable  to  react  to  any  testimony,  however 
great.  But  this  inabihty  did  not  render  them 
irresponsible  for  their  lack  of  faith.  Our  Lord 
closes  His  discourse  with  a  solemn  asseveration 
that  they  did  not  need  Him  to  accuse  them  to  the 
Father:  "There  was  one  that  accused  them,  even 
Moses,  on  whom  they  had  set  their  hopes.  For  if 
they  believed  Moses,  they  would  have  believed 
Him,  for  he  wrote  of  Him."  In  a  word,  our  Lord 
arraigns  them  for  their  inability  to  believe,  not  as 
though  it  was  an  excuse  for  their  lack  of  faith,  but 
as  though  it  was  the  blackest  item  in  the  indict- 
ment against  them.  They  could  not  believe,  but 
it  was  because  of  their  wicked  hearts,  because 
they  had  set  their  hearts  on  earthly  things  and 
cared  not  for  the  heavenly. 

And  now  we  understand  why  the  healing  of  the 
impotent  man  is  the  miracle  out  of  which  this  dis- 
course grows.  All  Christ's  miracles  are  parables. 
For  thirty-eight  years  this  man  had  lain  there  just 
alongside  the  healing  floods,  and  he  was  impotent 


98  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

to  use  them  for  the  heahng  of  his  disease — neither 
had  he  anyone  who  could  apply  them  to  him. 
And  here  before  these  Jews  stood  One  offering 
the  water  of  life,  and  they  were  impotent  to  reach 
out  their  hand  to  take  it,  because  they  were  re- 
ceiving their  glory  one  frt)m  another  and  sought 
not  the  glory  that  comes  from  the  Only  One.  It 
is  the  impotence  of  man  by  his  natural  powers  to 
believe — be  the  evidence  never  so  convincing — 
that  Jesus  would  teach  us  by  His  parable  and  by 
His  discourse.  The  impotent  man  might  have 
ocular  evidence  every  time  the  water  moved  of  its 
healing  virtues.  What  good  did  the  demonstra- 
tion do  him,  when  he  could  not  reach  out  and  take 
the  healing  floods.^  These  impotent  Jews  might 
have,  did  have,  demonstrative  evidence  that  the 
Lord  of  Life  stood  before  th'em.  John  had 
spoken,  God  in  His  word  had  spoken,  God  by 
sign  and  miracle  had  spoken.  And  yet  what  good 
did  evidence  do  them  so  long  as  they  could  not 
believe,  because  their  hearts  were  set  on  the  earth 
and  not  on  the  heavens? 

Is  it  not  plain  to  you  that  it  is  not  evidence  alone 
that  produces  faith .^  Did  the  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  Divine  mission  of  Christ  convince 
the  Jews;  who  sought  His  life  the  more  vindic- 
tively for  every  item  of  evidence  they  could  not 
resist;  who  answered  His  demonstration  of  deity 
by  hanging  Him  on  the  tree?  Nay,  be  the  evi- 
dence never  so  perfect,  we  cannot  believe  who  have 


LOOKING  TO  MEN  99 

evil  hearts  of  unbelief.  Never  until  that  Divine 
voice,  freighted  with  supernatural  power,  which 
said  to  the  impotent  man,  Arise,  take  up  thy  bed 
and  walk,  has  sounded  with  a  personal  message  to 
our  souls,  do  we  gain  the  power  to  believe,  though 
Moses  himself  and  the  law  written  in  our  hearts 
pronounce  us  inexcusable. 

Now  as  we  have  learned  a  doctrinal  lesson  from 
our  text,  let  us  learn  also  a  practical  one.  Surely 
the  text  teaches  us  that  the  habit  of  living  in 
religious  things  for  the  observation  and  applause 
of  our  fellows  is  deadly  to  all  religious  affections, 
and,  indeed,  to  all  religious  life  itself.  Nor  could 
it  indeed  be  otherwise.  Are  not  the  religious  af- 
fections in  their  very  nature  God  ward  .^^  And  is 
not  the  religious  life  dependent  on  our  preserving 
in  ourselves  an  attitude  of  dependence  and  recep- 
tivity with  reference  to  God.^^  Turn  our  eyes  from 
Him,  and  religion  in  any  true  sense  of  the  word  is 
gone.  Rites  may  remain;  forms  may  remain; 
genuflections  and  prayers  may  remain;  a  strict 
mode  of  life  may  remain,  but  not  religion.  The 
husk  of  religion — like  the  shell  of  nuts — may  en- 
dure when  the  kernel  is  gone;  it  is  often  harder 
to  destroy  the  hull  and  husk  than  that  subtle 
kernel,  for  which  alone  the  husk  exists.  But  of 
what  worth  is  the  husk  after  what  it  was  formed 
to  protect  is  gone.^^  Of  course  this  is  not  to  con- 
demn the  outward  forms  of  religion.  This  is  in- 
volved in  the  very  figure  used.     Like  the  shell  of  a 


100  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

nut,  it  is  needed;  needed  for  the  protection  and 
preservation  of  the  kernel.  But  without  the  ker- 
nel?    That  is  a  different  matter. 

As  ministers,  we  have,  and  we  ought  to  recog- 
nize it,  special  temptations  to  religiosity,  as 
distinguished  from  religion.  We  are  profession- 
ally religious  men.  Let  the  lesson  come  home  es- 
pecially to  us  then,  that  the  habit  of  being  relig- 
ious for  the  eye  of  men  is  deadly  to  true  religion. 
It  does  not  follow  that  we  ought  to  be  careless  of 
our  influence  over  men.  It  only  follows  that  we 
ought  to  be  careful  with  respect  to  what  we  in- 
fluence them.  We  should  set  an  example  to 
them  to  be  truly  religious,  lovers  of  God  and 
seekers  only  of  His  approval;  and  not  only  to  seem 
to  be  religious.  How  subtle  the  temptation  is! 
How  grand  a  thing  to  have  the  reputation  of  being 
the  most  religious  man  in  the  community,  the 
most  careful  in  our  religious  services,  the  most 
punctual  in  our  religious  duties!  Well,  the  Phar- 
isees were  all  this.  No  men  in  the  land  were  more 
religious;  they  were  models  for  all  men  in  the 
strictness  of  their  lives.  And  they  could  not  be- 
lieve! There  is  a  better  thing  than  having  the 
reputation  of  being  religious;  and  that  is  being 
rehgious.  And  the  difference  is  just  this:  That 
the  one  has  praise  of  men  and  the  other  of 
God. 

And  thus  we  are  led  to  lay  emphasis,  in  closing, 
on  the  third  point  of  teaching  which  I  would  have 


LOOKING  TO  MEN  101 

you  receive  from  our  text:  that  all  true  glory 
comes  from  God  only.  This  is  the  pointed  an- 
tithesis of  the  text;  and  Christ  uses  it  as  the  suf- 
ficient uncovering  of  the  failure  and  folly  of  the 
Jews.  They  received  glory  from  their  fellow  men, 
and  did  not  remember  that  true  glory  comes  from 
God  only.  It  is  hard  for  men  to  feel  this.  We 
do  so  long  after  the  approval  of  our  fellows.  Men 
go  in  crowds.  Truth  has  a  poor  show,  when  the 
tide  sets  against  it.  How  hard  it  is  to  face  the 
gibes  of  our  companions.  "Old  Fogy,"  "Nar- 
row-minded"— these  are  not  very  bad  words  in 
themselves,  but  they  have  a  baleful  power.  How 
natural  to  desire  to  be  "in  the  swim"!  How 
delightful  to  feel  the  approval  and  to  enjoy  the  aid 
of  our  fellows  pressing  us  on.  It  is  human  to  love 
human  applause  and  to  seek  it. 

But  it  is  Divine  to  stem  the  tide  for  God.  Jesus 
preached  unpopular  truth.  Men  could  so  little 
endure  it  that  they  crucified  Him  for  it.  Paul 
preached  unpopular  truth,  and  suffered  a  thousand 
deaths  for  doing  so.  Will  we  say  that  they  were 
wrong?  After  all,  it  is  only  when  the  "vox  populi" 
is  really  the  "vox  dei"as  well,  that  we  can  afford 
to  follow  it.  When  the  "vox  populi"  stands  in 
opposition  to  the  "vox  dei,"  let  us  breast  it  at  all 
hazards!  In  other  words,  let  it  be  the  "vox  dei" 
that  we  unhesitatingly  and  unwaveringly  follow; 
and  if  the  "vox  populi"  agree  with  it,  so  much  the 
better   for   the    "vox   populi."     As   ministers   of 


102  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

God's  grace  let  us  make  up  our  minds  firmly  and 
once  for  all  to  seek  His  glory  and  not  men's.  After 
all,  is  it  not  to  his  own  Master  that  every  man 
stands  or  falls? 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST 

Jno.  6:68,  69: — "Simon  Peter  answered  him.  Lord  to  whom 
shall  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have 
believed  and  know  that  Thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God." 

The  first  impression  made  on  us  by  this  re- 
sponse of  Peter's  to  our  Lord's  pathetic  appeal, 
"Surely  ye  too  will  not  wish  to  go?"  is  the  nobil- 
ity of  the  confession  which  it  contains.  We  are 
not  surprised  to  find  one  of  the  commentators, 
therefore,  speaking  of  it  as  "this  immortal  reply  "; 
nor  are  we  surprised  that  it  is  commonly  treated 
by  commentators  and  expounders  alike  from 
this  point  of  view.  Thus,  for  instance,  one  ex- 
pounder develops  it  as  a  "serious  answer"  to  our 
Lord's  "searching  inquiry";  and  finds  in  it,  (1) 
a  "reverential  address" —  "Lord";  (2)  a  signifi- 
cant inquiry,"  which  is  only  a  "strong  way  of 
asserting  not  alone  that  our  Lord's  disciples  in- 
tended to  adhere  to  Him,  but  that  they  reckoned 
Him  the  only  Teacher,  Messiah,  Saviour,  to  whom 
they  could  adhere" ;  (3)  a  "confidant  avowal" — 
viz.,  that  He  had  the  words  of  eternal  life;  and 
(4)  a  "simple  confession,"  that  they  saw  in  Him 
none  other  than  "the  Holy  One  of  God," — God's 
own  incarnate  Son. 

Now,  we  should  certainly  be  sorry  to  miss  this 
103 


104  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

side  of  the  matter.  Surely,  the  verse  does  con- 
tain, fundamentally,  a  confession  of  Peter's  and 
through  him  of  the  apostles'  faith;  and  assuredly 
this  confession  is,  in  contrast  with  the  thought 
of  Jesus  entertained  by  the  crowds  which  had 
been  flocking  to  Him,  a  very  noble  confession, 
which  explains  why  the  twelve  cleaved  to  Him 
in  the  midst  of  the  general  defection  that  had  now 
set  in.  At  bottom,  this  confession  does  mean 
that  these  men  were  seeking  in  Jesus  satisfaction 
for  spiritual  and  not  carnal  wants;  and  that  they, 
therefore,  understood  Him  incomparably  better 
than  the  crowds  of  carnal  men  which  had  hitherto 
surrounded  Him;  and  that,  finding  satisfaction  in 
Him  for  their  spiritual  needs,  they  could  not  leave 
Him  as  the  others  left  Him,  however  puzzlingly 
He  spoke,  but  could  not  fail  to  recognize  in  Him 
the  very  consecrated  messenger  from  God  whom 
their  hearts  craved. 

To  mean  this  was,  at  that  time  and  in  those  cir- 
cumstances, to  mean  almost  incredibly  much. 
But  it  is  not  to  mean  everything.  There  is  an- 
other side  to  the  declaration,  and  this  other  side 
is  obviously  the  side  that  was  in  John's  mind  when 
he  recorded  it.  For  clearly  he  does  not  put  it 
forward  as  a  supreme  confession,  marking  a  com- 
plete appreciation  of  Jesus'  person  and  claims, 
and  standing  out,  therefore,  in  startling  and  in- 
structive contrast  with  the  unbelief  of  others,  to 
the  manifestation  of  which  the  whole  preceding 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  105 

chapter  is  consecrated — as  exhibiting  in  a  word 
the  immense  contrast  of  the  fullness  of  the  apos- 
tles' faith  and  appreciation  with  the  slowness  or 
rather  grossness  of  heart  of  the  lesser  followers  of 
Christ.  On  the  contrary,  he  presents  it  evi- 
dently as  standing  in  contrast,  indeed,  with  the 
unbelief  and  incapacity  to  believe  of  the  others, 
and  therefore  marking  out  the  apostles  as 
Christ's  especially  faithful  followers;  but  as, 
nevertheless,  exhibiting  more  fully  the  great  crisis 
that  had  come  into  our  Lord's  life  by  showing  how, 
even  among  His  closest  companions,  there  existed 
no  full  appreciation  of  Him  in  His  work  and  claims. 
When  Jesus,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  scenes  that 
lay  about  Him,  turned  to  this  innermost  circle  of 
His  followers  with  the  sorrowful  inquiry:  "Surely 
ye  too  will  not  go  away!" — Oh,  the  pathos  of  it! — 
He  obtained  no  doubt  a  reassurance.  No,  they 
would  cleave  to  Him.  And  this  reassurance  must 
have  been  a  balm  to  His  wounded  human  spirit. 
But  the  reassurance  He  obtained  was  so  little 
to  His  mind,  that  He  felt  it  necessary  to  meet  it 
with  a  rebuke:  "Was  it  not  I  that  chose  you — the 
twelve;  and  of  you,  one  is  diabohcal!"  This  very 
confession  was  an  element,  thus,  in  the  crisis 
through  which  He  was  passing,  the  manifestation 
of  how  little  even  those  who  were  nearest  to  Him 
really  understood  Him  or  were  ready  to  carry  on 
His  work. 

Surely  it  will  not  be  without  its  lessons  to  us  to 


106  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

seek,  without  derogating  from  the  essential  nobil- 
ity of  the  confession,  to  trace  out  also  the  elements 
of  incompleteness  that  enter  into  it,  and  that 
make  it  less  than  what  a  confession  of  Christ 
ought  to  be. 

First  of  all,  then,  we  notice  that  there  seems  to 
be  an  element  of  boastfulness  in  this  confession. 
This  suggests  itself  by  the  obtrusion  of  the  personal 
pronoun.  We  might  read  our  English  version  and 
think  of  the  emphasis  falling  on  the  beheving 
and  knowing  which  is  asserted.  We  cannot  so 
read  the  Greek.  The  emphasis  falls  rather  on 
the  "we."  "And  as  for  us,"  says  Peter,  "we  at 
least"  have  believed.  Peter  is  contrasting  him- 
self and  his  fellow  apostles  with  others  and  priding 
himself  on  the  contrast.  We  will  remember  that 
our  Lord  had  just  said,  "The  words  that  I  have 
spoken  unto  you  are  spirit  and  are  life;  but  there 
are  of  you  some  who  do  not  believe."  Peter 
seems  to  swell  with  pride  to  think  that  he  is  not 
of  these.  Repeating  his  Master's  words,  he  says, 
"Thou  hast  words  of  eternal  life,  and  as  for  us, 
we  at  least  have  believed!"  You  see  Peter  is 
Peter  himself  in  this  confession.  How  often  do 
we  find  him  pushing  forward  with  his  rash  and 
boastful  words.  "That  be  far  from  Thee,  Lord," 
he  cries  on  a  similar  occasion — to  receive  the  sharp 
rebuff,  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan!"  "Although 
all  shall  stumble,"  he  had  yet  to  boast  on  still 
another  occasion,  "yet  will  not  I.     If  I  must  die 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  107 

with  Thee,  I  will  not  deny  Thee."  We  all  know 
with  what  sorrowful  sequence.  And  so  here;  "As 
for  us,  we,  at  least,  have  believed."  We  perceive 
the  pride  in  his  faith  which  dictated  the  words. 
And  now  we  understand  the  sharpness  of  our 
Lord's  rebuke,  with  its  emphasis  on  the  personal 
pronoun.  "You  boast  yourselves,"  replies  Jesus, 
"that  you  at  least  have  believed — was  it  after 
all  you  that  believed  in  Me,  or  I  that  chose  you — 
the  twelve?  And  even  so,  of  you,  one  at  least  is 
a  devil ! ' '  Poor  Peter — always  boasting  and  always 
getting  the  "Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan." 

How  plain  the  lesson  to  us  is.  A  warning, 
clear,  sharp,  overwhelming,  against  all  spiritual 
pride.  I  am  afraid  that  we  too  are  prone  to  pride 
ourselves  on  what  we  have  only  received,  as  if 
by  our  own  power  we  had  done  these  things. 
There  is  nothing  more  unlovely  than  pride  in 
spiritual  things.  Do  we  not  feel  it  moving  in  us 
sometimes,  however,  in  the  precise  form  in  which 
it  attacked  Peter  here.^^  Are  we  not  inclined,  not 
merely  to  felicitate  ourselves,  but  also  to  boast 
ourselves  that  we  have  believed  in  Jesus,  as  if  it 
were  the  mark  of  some  peculiar  excellence  in  us? 
But,  brethren,  if  we  do  indeed  believe,  who,  who 
is  it  that  has  made  us  thus  to  differ?  Is  it  that 
we  have  believed,  or  that  He,  our  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter, has  chosen  us?  Surely  it  is  not  we  but  He 
who  deserves  the  glory.  Let  the  "Soli  Deo 
Gloria"  ring  ceaselessly  in  our  breasts.     For,  we 


108  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

may  well  believe  it,  not  pride  but  humility  is  the 
root  of  the  Christian  life;  not  boasting  of  ourselves 
but  glorying  in  God  the  Saviour  is  becoming  in 
us.  God  give  us  that  small  measure  of  humility 
which  will  be  willing  to  acknowledge  that  it  is 
of  Him  and  not  of  ourselves  that  we  are  partakers 
of  Christ.  So  shall  we  learn  Peter's  lesson:  "It 
is  not  ye  that  have  believed,  but  I  that  have 
chosen!" 

We  notice  in  the  second  place  that  Peter's 
confession  in  its  form  looks  very  much  like  what 
we  may  perhaps  call  a  counsel  of  despair.  "Lord, 
to  whom  shall  we  go,"  he  asks,  "Thou  hast  words 
of  eternal  life?"  Here,  too,  our  English  version 
may  lead  us  astray  as  to  the  tone  of  the  remark. 
There  is  no  emphasis  on  the  "Thou";  there,  in- 
deed, is  no  "Thou"  at  all  in  the  Greek.  Christ's 
person,  in  other  words,  is  not  put  prominently 
forward.  It  is  rather  conspicuously  kept  in  the 
background.  Neither  is  there  any  article  to  give 
significance  to  "words  of  eternal  life."  We  do 
not  read  ^'the  words  of  eternal  life"  as  if  Peter 
recognized  in  Jesus'  words  their  supreme  peculi- 
arity, that  they  were  themselves  spirit  and  life. 
The  phrase  is  purely  general;  Peter  has  found 
"words  of  eternal  life"  in  Jesus'  talk;  that  is  all. 
In  fact,  there  is  little  more  here  than  an  echo  of 
our  Lord's  words  a  few  verses  earlier.  Our  Lord 
had  declared  that  the  words  He  had  spoken  were 
words  of  spirit  and  life;   Peter  echoes  that  Jesus' 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  109 

words  were  words  of  eternal  life.  It  is  to  his 
credit  that  he  recognizes  them  as  such;  it  shows 
that  he  is  really  at  bottom  spiritually  minded. 
But  we  cannot  help  feeling  that — like  echoes  in 
general — there  is  some  lack  of  substance  in  this. 
There  appears  to  be  exhibited  acquiescence  rather 
than  intense  conviction.  Peter  was,  as  a  spirit- 
ually minded  man,  in  search  of  spiritual  nourish- 
ment; his  heart  was  keyed  to  and  set  upon  eternal 
things — the  everlasting  welfare  of  his  soul  rather 
than  the  temporal  pleasure  of  his  body.  He  finds 
satisfaction  in  Christ.  He  finds  such  satisfaction 
in  Him  as  he  had  found  in  no  one  else.  He  can- 
not look  with  anything  but  dismay  at  losing  Him. 
He  recognizes  Him  as  unique  among  the  teachers 
of  Israel  and  rejoices  in  Him  as  such.  But  there 
he  seems  as  yet  half  inclined  to  stop.  And  to 
stop  there  is  to  stop  fatally  short  of  a  true  appre- 
ciation of  Jesus.  For  there  is  something  negative 
rather  than  positive  attaching  to  this  position. 
It  would,  doubtless,  be  going  too  far  to  say  that  it 
all  amounts  to  no  more  than  satisfying  oneself 
with  Jesus  in  the  absence  of  a  better.  But  there 
is  a  suggestion  of  such  a  state  of  mind  in  it.  "Will 
you  too  leave  me.'^"  Jesus  asks.  "Why,  to  whom 
should  we  go?"  is  the  reply;  "Thou  hast  words  of 
eternal  life."  There  is  no  adequate  entering  into 
the  supremeness  of  Jesus'  claims  here;  there  is 
only  a  recognition  that  none  better  than  He  could 
be  found.     Now,   it  is  not  its  uniqueness  that 


no  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

makes  a  thing  really  precious  to  us.  That 
is  a  negative  attribute.  It  is  the  appreciation 
of  the  positive  content  of  preciousness  in  any- 
thing which  makes  the  thing  unique — because 
nothing  conceivable  could  surpass  it  or  take  its 
place. 

It  is  well  worth  our  while,  brethren,  to  ask  our- 
selves seriously  to-day  if  we  are  perhaps  our- 
selves adhering  to  Christ  only  because,  and  so  far 
as,  and  while,  we  have  no  one  else  to  go  to.^^  Is 
our  reason  for  enrolling  ourselves  His  summed  up 
only  in  this — that  we  know  no  better.'^  Well,  it  is 
certain  that  we  shall  never  know  a  better.  For  a 
better  does  not  and  cannot  exist.  Because  He  is 
the  Supremely  Best.  Better  recognize  this  at 
once,  however,  and  feel  the  uplift  of  His  glory! 
"Christ  and  other  Masters" — in  collocation — is 
derogatory  to  Him.  His  uniqueness  is  absolute, 
not  relative;  and  our  attitude  to  it  must  be  a  posi- 
tive and  not  a  negative  one.  There  is  enthusiasm 
demanded  here.  Let  us  be  bound  to  Christ  by  a 
true  appreciation  of  what  He  actually  is,  and  we 
will  never  question  whether  perchance  we  may  not 
some  time  discover  a  better;  and  will  never  feel  an 
impulse  to  express  our  devotion  to  Him  in  such 
words  as  these,  "We  must  cling  to  Him  because 
we  know  not  to  whom  else  to  go."  No,  no,  we 
must  cleave  to  Him  because  He  is  such  that  to 
separate  from  Him  would  be  to  separate  from  all 
that  makes  life  worth  living,  all  that  gilds  this 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  111 

world  or  blesses  the  next.  This  is  the  attitude 
that  does  justice  not  to  what  we  would  fain  find 
in  Him  but  to  what  He  really  is. 

And  this  leads  us  to  notice  an  element  of  (shall 
we  say?)  selfishness  in  Peter's  confession.  Peter 
adheres  to  Jesus  because — so  he  says — he  does 
not  know  where  else  to  find  the  blessings  which 
Peter  wants.  Now  Peter  was  a  spiritually  minded 
man  and  he  was  not  seeking  earthly  but  heavenly 
good.  This  is  greatly  to  his  credit.  It  shows  a 
high  and  noble  nature,  with  high  and  noble  aspira- 
tions, living  on  a  high  and  noble  plane,  above  all 
the  dross  which  satisfies  so  many  men.  But  it 
is  possible  to  be  selfish  even  on  this  high  plane; 
and  a  dash  of  this  selfishness  seems  to  show  itself 
in  Peter's  confession.  He  cleaves  to  Christ,  for 
what  reason,^  Because  his  longing  for  words  of 
eternal  life  is  satisfied  by  Christ.  It  would  be 
going  too  far  to  say  that  Peter  clung  to  Christ  for 
what,  as  the  coarse  saying  goes,  he  could  get  out 
of  Him.  But  this  coarse  language  hints  at  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  Surely  we  will  feel  that 
there  is  something  lacking  in  this  attitude,  the 
attitude  which  cleaves  to  Jesus  because  we  do  not 
know  where  else  to  go  to  obtain  what  we  want, 
even  though  we  want  the  highest  good — eternal 
life  itself.  Does  it  not  place  it  on  a  distinctly 
lower  plane  than  that  fine  self-abandonment 
which  cleaves  to  another,  like  Ruth  to  Naomi, 
out  of  pure   appreciation   and   love?     Think  of 


112  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Ruth  and  think  of  Peter:  do  not  we  feel  that 
Ruth  was  living  on  a  higher  plane? 

Now,  I  am  not  going  to  preach  to  you  the  gospel 
of  "disinterested  love"  in  the  sense  of  the  mystics. 
You  all  know  the  fine  story  of  the  vision  of  a 
woman  going  forth  with  fire  and  water,  to  burn 
up  heaven  and  put  out  hell,  that  men  may  here- 
after love  God  neither  for  fear  of  hell  nor  for  desire 
for  heaven,  but  for  His  Lovely  Self  alone.  We 
feel  the  inspiration  of  it.  But  we  feel  doubtless 
that  there  is  something  a  little  too  absolute  in  its 
antithesis.  There  is  a  proper  self-seeking — a 
proper  place  for  self-love — to  which  Jesus  Him- 
self appeals,  and  which  should  be  operative  to 
draw  us  to  Him.  It  is  not  wrong,  but  distinctly 
right,  to  long  for  heaven  and  to  fear  hell.  xAnd 
that  we  find  all  the  higher  wants  of  our  souls  satis- 
fied in  Christ  is  surely  no  mean  commendation  of 
Him  to  us.  The  desire  for  eternal  life  is  no  low 
longing.  He  who  can  supply  this  desire  is  worthy 
of  our  adherence  and  love. 

There  is  assuredly  a  place  in  life  for  all  these 
things.  But  after  all,  they  are  not  quite  the 
highest  things.  They  are  the  things  with  which 
we  should  begin,  not  those  with  which  we  should 
end.  Let  us  come  to  Christ  for  our  own  sakes — 
for  our  own  sakes  how  can  we  not  come  to  Him ! — 
but  when,  having  come  to  Him  for  our  own  sakes, 
we  find  all  that  He  is,  let  us  learn  to  love  Him  and 
cleave  to  Him  for  His  own  sake.     For  His  own 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  113 

sake,  because  He  is  altogether  lovely  and  One  to 
be  desired  above  our  chief  joy.  Why,  even  in 
these  earthly  unions,  which  we  call  marriage,  we 
take  the  loved  one  "for  better,  for  worse."  Shall 
we  take  Jesus  only  for  better.?  And  should  the 
worse  come  to  the  worst,  are  we  to  leave  Him  and 
seek  some  other  one  who  seems  to  us  to  have  words 
of  eternal  life.'^  There  is  a  sense,  let  us  try  to  un- 
derstand that,  in  which  it  would  be  better,  in- 
finitely better,  to  perish  with  Jesus,  than  to  live 
without  Him.  Thank  God,  such  an  alternative 
can  never  occur.  With  Him  is  life,  and  nothing 
but  life;  life  ever  more  and  more  abundantly. 
But  it  is  well  worth  our  while  to  distinguish  and 
to  see  that  we  love  Him  and  cleave  to  Him,  not 
merely  for  the  life  that  is  in  Him  for  us,  but  for  all 
the  glorious  perfections  that  are  in  Him  Himself. 
To  do  this  we  must,  of  course,  know  Him  as  He 
is  and  in  all  that  He  is.  And  here  we  see  the 
final  flaw  in  Peter's  confession.  He  had  not  yet 
come  to  know  Christ  fully.  And  that  is,  doubtless, 
the  ultimate  reason  of  all  the  other  shortcomings 
we  have  found  in  it.  Had  he  known  Christ  fully, 
he  never  would  or  could  have  confessed  Him  only 
thus — with  a  boastful  spirit  as  if  he  had  found 
Christ  out  instead  of  having  been  found  by  Him; 
with  half-hearted  zeal  as  if  He  were  only  the  best 
he  had  yet  found;  and  with  a  somewhat  selfish 
outlook  as  if  it  were  only  because  he  could  obtain 
from  Him  satisfaction  for  his  felt  needs.     I  am 


114  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

not  blaming  Peter  for  not  yet  knowing  Christ 
better.  It  rather  is  wonderful,  when  all  is  con- 
sidered, that  he  knew  Him  actually  so  well,  and 
was  ready  boldly  to  declare  Him,  in  the  face  of  all, 
to  be  "God's  Holy  One."  It  was  a  great  thing 
for  Peter  to  have  seen  this  clearly;  and  a  great 
thing  for  him  to  have  been  ready  to  announce  it 
in  the  presence  of  the  great  defection  which  was 
going  on  at  the  moment.  Herein  lies  the  nobility 
of  this  noble  confession.  But  there  is  a  great  deal 
more  than  this  to  be  known  and  confessed  about 
Jesus,  and  Peter  afterwards  learned  it. 

The  point  of  importance  to  us  is,  Have  we 
learned  it?  We  may  be  quite  sure  that  our  whole 
attitude  to  Christ  will  turn  on  the  fullness  and  the 
intimacy  with  which  we  know  Him.  We  have  no 
such  excuses  as  Peter  had  for  not  knowing  Christ 
in  all  the  fullness  of  His  Being  and  all  the  splen- 
dour of  His  Nature.  Surely,  He  must,  for  instance, 
be  something  more  to  us  than  "the  Holy  One  of 
God" — "God's  saint" — that  is  to  say,  no  doubt, 
by  way  of  eminence,  the  one  whom  God  has 
chosen  and  consecrated  and  endowed  for  His  ser- 
vice. We  have  seen  how  in  Peter's  case  even, 
such  a  knowledge  of  Him  did  not  suflfice  to  make  a 
full  confession.  And  surely  He  must  be  something 
more  to  us  than  "the  historical  Christ" — espe- 
cially if  we  begin  to  doubt  or  bicker  over  what 
history  it  is  that  we  will  accept  as  a  trustworthy 
account  of  this  "historical  Christ."     Christ  the 


A  HALF-LEARNED  CHRIST  115 

Teacher,  Christ  the  Example,  Christ  the  Founder 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  Christ  the  King — surely 
He  must  be  something  much  more  than  even  all 
these  to  us  if  we  are  to  confess  Him  aright.  The 
historical  Christ,  yes,  but  also  the  exalted  Christ. 
Christ  our  Prophet,  yes,  and  Christ  our  King;  but 
also  Christ  our  Priest  and  Christ  our  Sacrifice. 
Christ  that  died  and  also  Christ  that  rose  again. 
The  Son  of  Man  and  also  the  Son  of  God.  To 
Peter  as  yet  He  was  not  all  these  things,  though 
Peter  was  feeling  His  way  towards  them.  To  us 
He  is  all  these  things,  and  more,  even  Christ, 
the  All  in  All.  Ah,  brethren,  if  we  could  only  see 
Him  in  His  beauty,  how  our  hearts  would  go  out 
to  Him!  No  boastful,  half-hearted,  selfish  con- 
fession then!  Only  adoration  and  joy  and  un- 
speakable satisfaction  in  Him!  Let  us  see  and 
know  and  confess  Him,  as  He  is,  and  in  all  that 
He  is! 


THE   CONVICTION   OF   THE   SPIRIT 

Jno.  16:8-11: — "And  he,  when  he  is  come,  will  convict  the 
world  in  respect  of  sin,  and  of  righteousness  and  of  judgment:  of 
sin,  because  they  believe  not  on  me;  of  righteousness,  because 
I  go  to  the  Father,  and  ye  behold  me  no  more;  of  judgment,  be- 
cause the  prince  of  this  world  hath  been  judged." 

These  chapters  which  contain  the  closing  dis- 
course of  Christ  to  His  disciples  are  wonderingly 
dwelt  upon  by  every  Christian  heart,  as  the  deep- 
est and  richest  part  of  the  riches  of  this  Gospel. 
That  we  may  obtain  an  insight  into  the  marvellous 
words  which  we  take  as  the  subject  of  our  med- 
itation to-day,  it  is  essential  for  us  to  realize  the 
setting  which  our  Lord  gave  them  in  the  midst 
of  this  discourse.  He  had  described  to  His  dis- 
ciples the  conditions  of  their  life,  in  continuous 
union  and  communion  with  Him,  purchased  as 
they  were  by  His  death  for  them  and  elevated  to 
the  lofty  position  of  His  special  friends  from  whom 
He  withholds  nothing — not  even  His  life  itself. 
Then  He  had  opposed  to  this  picture  of  their  exal- 
tation, a  delineation  of  their  condition  in  the  world, 
opposed  and  hated  and  persecuted  and  slain ;  while 
they,  on  their  part,  were  to  bear  quietly  their  wit- 
ness, endure  their  martyrdom,  and  trust  in  their 
Redeemer.  But  was  this  all.?  Were  they  con- 
demned to  a  hopeless  witness-bearing  through  all 

116 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT      117 

the  coming  years,  while  the  world  triumphed  over 
them  and  in  them  over  their  crucified  Lord? 
What  an  end  to  the  hope  they  had  cherished  that 
this  was  He  who  should  redeem  Israel! 

No,  says  the  Lord,  not  the  world  but  they  were 
to  win  the  victory;  the  laurel  belongs  by  right  not 
to  Satan's  but  to  His  own  brow.  But  we  will  not 
fail  to  notice  the  air  of  reproof  with  which  He 
opens  the  section  of  His  discourse  which  He  has 
consecrated  to  an  exposition  of  the  victory  over 
the  world  which  He  intended  that  they — as  His — 
should  win.  "But  now,"  he  says,  "I  am  going 
to  Him  that  sent  me,  and  no  one  of  you  asketh 
me,  'Whither  goest  thou.^^',  but  because  I  said 
these  things  to  you,  sorrow  hath  filled  your  hearts." 
They  had,  indeed,  expected  Him  to  redeem  Israel. 
It  was  therefore  that  they  had  given  Him  their 
trust,  their  love;  that  they  had  left  their  all  to 
follow  Him.  But  now  sad  days  had  come;  and 
they  saw  their  trusted  Lord  on  the  eve  of  giving 
Himself  up  to  death.  Was  not  this  a  dashing  of 
their  hopes  .^^  And  had  they,  then,  been  so  long 
time  with  Him  and  had  not  learned  that  the 
Father  had  ten  myriads  of  angels  who  were  en- 
camped about  Him  and  who  would  bear  up  His 
every  footfall  lest  by  chance  He  might  dash  His 
foot  against  a  stone  .^  Nay,  that  He  had  Himself 
power  to  lay  down  His  life  and  to  take  it  again  .^^ 
How  could  they  look  upon  this  coming  death  as 
an  interference  with  His  plans,  the  destruction  of 


118  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

their  hopes,  and  so  sorrow  as  those  without  hope, 
instead  of  rejoicing  as  those  who  see  the  bright 
promise  of  the  coming  day  in  the  east? 

On  the  hnes  of  these  needs  of  the  babes  with 
which  He  had  to  deal,  our  Lord  disposes  His  com- 
forting words.  The  sorrow  of  their  hearts  He 
deprecates,  not  merely  because  He  might  expect 
them  to  rejoice  like  friends  in  His  approaching 
departure  to  the  higher  and  better  life,  but  be- 
cause He  might  expect  them,  after  so  much  that 
He  had  done  in  their  sight  and  spoken  in  their 
hearing,  to  have  confidence  in  His  mission  and 
work,  and  to  know  that  the  power  of  Satan  could 
not  prevail  against  Him.  What  a  spectacle  we 
see  here !  The  Master  girding  Himself  for  His  last 
stroke  of  battle  with  the  joy  of  victory  in  His  eyes, 
while  His  surrounding  friends  are  with  stream- 
ing tears  anointing  Him  for  burial!  He  plants 
His  foot  firmly  upon  the  steps  of  His  Eternal 
Throne;  and  they  smite  their  breasts  with  the 
sorrowful  cry,  "  We  had  hoped  that  thou  mightest 
have  been  He  that  should  have  redeemed  Israel!  " 
No  wonder  that  He  gives  them  the  loving  rebuke, 
"  But  now  I  go  my  way  to  Him  that  sent  me," — 
to  Him  that  sent  me;  on  the  completion  of  His 
work,  then;  not  as  balked,  defeated, — "  and  no 
one  of  you  asketh  me  '  Whither  goest  thou?  ',  but 
because  I  have  said  these  things  sorrow  hath  filled 
your  hearts." 

Note  how  our  Lord  presses  forward  His  per- 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT      119 

sonality  here.  "  But  I  tell  you  the  truth  " — 
none  of  you  has  asked  me,  but  I  lovingly 
volunteer  to  tell  you, — "It  is  good  for  you  that  I 
go  away."  This  departure  is  not  a  forced  one,  by 
way  of  defeat  and  loss;  it  was  planned  from  the 
beginning  and  is  part  of  the  great  plan  by  which  I 
am  to  redeem  not  only  Israel  but  the  world.  Note 
the  emphatic  "I":  "It  is  good  for  you  that  I 
go  away."  Why  this  emphasis .^^  Because  there 
is  another  to  whom  this  work  has  been  committed 
and  whose  offices  are  necessary  for  the  consum- 
mation of  the  work.  "Because  unless  I  go, 
the  Helper  will  not  come  to  you;  but  if  I  go,  I  will 
send  Him  to  you ;  and  it  is  He  who,  on  His  coming, 
will  convict  the  world  as  to  sin,  and  as  to  right- 
eousness and  as  to  judgment." 
Let  us  observe: — 

I.  That  Christ  proclaims  the  victory. 

II.  That   He    announces    the    agent    through 

whose  holy  offices  the  victory   will  be 
realized  in  the  world. 

III.  That  He  describes  the  manner  in  which 

the   victory   will   be   realized — by   con- 
victing the  world. 

IV.  That   He   names   the   three   elements   in 

which  this  conviction  takes  effect — sin, 
righteousness  and  judgment.  And  finally, 

V.  That  He  points  out  the  means  which  the 

Spirit  uses  to  bring  home  this  conviction, 
in  each  element,  to  the  hearts  of  men. 


120  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Christ,  I  say,  proclaims  here  the  victory.  Why 
are  ye  fearful,  O  ye  of  little  faith?  he  says  in 
effect  to  his  tearful  disciples.  I  go  to  the  Father, 
and  the  world  will  hate  you  as  it  hated  me,  and  the 
world  will  persecute  you  and  the  world  will  slay 
you.  But  still  the  world  is  conquered.  It  is  not 
because  Satan  is  victor  that  I  go  to  the  Father; 
it  is  because  I  have  completed  my  work,  because 
redemption  has  been  won,  and  I  go  to  take  my 
place  upon  the  throne,  that  from  that  throne  I 
may  cause  all  things  to  work  together  for  your 
good, — that  from  it  I  may  send  the  Helper  forth 
to  you,  who  will  convict  the  world. 

Here  He  announces  the  agent  through  whom  the 
victory  is  to  be  realized  in  the  world.  He  has 
won  the  victory;  the  Spirit  is  to  apply  His  work 
that  the  fruits  of  the  victory  may  be  reaped  to  the 
full.  A  new  age  has  dawned  on  this  sin-stricken 
world;  the  Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air  is  de- 
throned; the  Prince  of  Peace  reigns.  Henceforth 
men  strive  not  single-handed  against  the  spiritual 
hosts  of  wickedness  in  high  places;  they  have  a 
Comforter,  Advocate,  Helper,  Paraclete  ever  at 
their  right  hand,  and  He  will  give  them  the  vic- 
tory. It  will  be  observed  that  Christ  is  here 
dealing  with  His  apostles,  not  merely  as  individ- 
uals striving  against  the  sin  that  is  within  them, 
but  as  His  Lieutenants,  leading  His  hosts  against 
the  sin  that  is  in  the  world.  The  world  may  per- 
secute them — and  slay  them.      But  they  will  win 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT     121 

the  victory;  by  the  power  of  their  Helper  they 
will  lead  captivity  captive. 

Hence  the  nature  of  the  victory  that  is  to  be 
realized  in  the  world  is  here  declared  for  us.  It 
is  a  moral  victory,  a  spiritual  victory,  and  its 
essence  is  not  physical  subjection  but  mental  and 
moral  conviction.  That  Christ  dies,  that  His 
followers  are  imprisoned,  persecuted,  slain,  in  no 
wise  detracts  from  the  victory;  these  things  are 
disparate  to  it;  they  move  on  different  planes  and 
cannot  conflict.  What  the  Helper  is  to  do  is  to 
convict  the  world;  and  in  this  conviction  rests 
their  victory. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  was  a  hard  saying.  No 
doubt  when  it  was  spoken  it  fell  like  a  deeper 
knell  on  the  hearts  of  the  apostles;  instead  of 
comforting,  it  pained,  instead  of  encouraging, 
it  slew.  But  then,  Christ  was  not  yet  risen  and 
their  eyes  were  holden  that  they  should  know 
neither  Him  nor  His  victory.  But  turn  to  Pen- 
tecost. Then  the  Spirit  came  as  He  was  prom- 
ised and  gave  the  convicting  power  to  Peter's 
sermon  that  here  was  announced.  See  the  joy  in 
the  victory,  the  exulting  courage  of  the  apostles, 
from  that  day  to  the  end.  Paul  declares  that  he 
spoke  not  in  the  wisdom  of  the  world  but  in  the 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  in  power.  Al- 
though he  uses  a  different  word,  what  he  means  by 
the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  seems  to  be  what 
Christ  here  promised  under  the  name  of  the  proof. 


122  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

convincing,  conviction  of  the  Spirit.  This  phrase 
of  Paul's,  indeed,  is  perhaps  the  best  verbal  com- 
mentary on  our  passage.  The  best  actual  com- 
mentary is  found,  doubtless,  in  the  narrative  of 
the  results  of  the  apostolic  preaching  in  the  Book 
of  Acts.  This,  then,  is  the  victory;  not  an  ex- 
ternal one  over  men's  bodies,  but  the  conquest  of 
the  world  to  Christ  by  the  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  whereby 
the  world  is  convicted  of  sin  and  righteousness  and 
judgment.  The  conquest  is  a  spiritual  one;  the 
apostles  are  the  agents  in  it;  but  the  source  of  the 
power  is  the  Holy  Ghost — our  one  and  true  Helper 
in  the  world,  who  convicts  the  world  of  sin  and 
righteousness  and  judgment. 

We  approach  now  the  center  of  our  subject 
and  perceive  what  it  is  that  the  world  is  convicted 
of  by  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit.  The  Sav- 
iour pointedly  discriminates  between  the  three 
elements:  As  to  sin,  as  to  righteousness,  as  to 
judgment.  Conviction  of  the  world  is  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Conviction  as  to  what.^^  (1) 
As  to  sin.  The  world  which  as  yet  knows  not  sin 
is  convicted  of  it  as  the  first  and  primary  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  not  without  significance 
that  this  is  placed  first.  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
it  underlies  all  else,  and  conviction  of  sin  becomes 
the  first  step  in  that  recovery  of  the  world,  which 
is  the  victory.  Once  convicted  of  sin,  another 
conviction  is  opened  out  before  it.     (2)  It  may 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT     123 

then  be  convicted  of  righteousness,  that  is,  of 
what  righteousness  is  and  what  is  required  to  form 
a  true  righteousness,  and  (3)  it  may  be  convicted 
of  judgment,  that  is,  of  what  judgment  is,  what 
justice  requires  and  its  inevitableness.  These 
two  together  form  the  correlates  of  sin.  It  is 
only  by  knowing  sin  that  we  can  know  righteous- 
ness; as  it  is  only  by  knowing  darkness  that  we 
know  hght.  We  must  know  what  sin  is  and  how 
subtle  it  is,  before  we  can  realize  what  righteous- 
ness is.  We  must  know  how  base  the  one  is  be- 
fore we  can  know  how  noble  the  other  is.  We 
must  know  the  depth  that  we  may  appreciate  the 
heights.  In  like  manner  we  must  know  sin  in 
order  to  know  judgment.  We  mu^t  know  sin  in 
its  native  hideousness  that  we  may  understand  its 
ill-desert,  and  perceive  with  what  judgment  the 
sinner  must  be  judged.  So,  too,  we  must  know 
righteousness  to  know  judgment.  Not  only  the 
depths  of  sin,  but  also  the  heights  of  righteousness 
are  involved  in  the  judgment.  Sin  on  the  one  side, 
righteousness  on  the  other;  these  give  us  our  true 
conviction  of  judgment.  And  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  the  world  is  declared  to  be  convic- 
tion; and  by  convicting  men  He  conquers  the 
world.  The  Gospel  is  preached  and  it  everywhere 
brings  a  crisis  to  men.  Shall  they  hear  or  forbear? 
Some  hear;  to  some  it  is  hid;  but  on  all  the  con- 
viction takes  effect.  Sin  is  made  known;  right- 
eousness is  revealed;  judgment  is  laid  bare.     And 


124  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

men  convicted  of  their  sin  have  but  a  choice  of  the 
righteousness  or  judgment. 

For  our  Saviour  does  not  leave  us  in  ignorance 
of  the  import  and  instruments  of  this  threefold 
conviction. 

(1)  "Of  sin,"  he  says,  "because  they  believe 
not  on  me."  This  does  not  seem  to  mean  that 
there  would  be  no  sin  save  for  rejection  of  Christ, 
but  that  the  proclamation  of  Christ  is  the  great 
revealer  of  sin,  the  great  distinguisher  of  men. 
When  Christ  is  preached  the  touchstone  is  ap- 
plied and  men  are  convicted  of  being  sinners  and 
of  the  depths  and  hideousness  of  their  sin  by  their 
exhibited  attitude  towards  the  Son  of  God.  The 
Gospel  is  never  hid  save  to  them  whose  eyes  the 
god  of  this  world  has  blinded,  lest  they  should  see 
the  glory  of  the  Saviour  and  come  to  Him  and  be 
saved.  There  is  no  revelation  of  character  so 
accurate,  so  powerful,  so  unmistakable,  so  inev- 
itable, as  that  wrapped  up  in  the  simple  question, 
"What  think  ye  of  Christ.?"  Like  a  loadstone 
passing  over  a  rubbish  heap,  His  preaching  draws 
to  His  side  all  that  is  not  hopelessly  bad.  And  all 
who  come  not  are  demonstrated  to  be  sinners,  and 
the  depth  of  their  sin  is  thus  revealed. 

(2)  "As  to  righteousness,"  he  adds,  "because 
I  go  to  my  Father  and  ye  see  me  no  more."  This 
seems  to  mean  that  the  fact  of  Christ's  completed 
work,  closed  by  His  ascension  to  His  primal  glory, 
is  the  demonstration  of  righteousness.     Convicted 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT      125 

of  sin,  the  world  is  also  convicted  of  righteousness ; 
that  is,  of  the  need  of  a  righteousness  such  as  it 
cannot  frame  for  itself,  and  such  as  will  match  in 
its  height,  the  depth  of  its  own  sin.  This  is 
brought  to  light  only  in  the  Gospel,  in  which  a 
righteousness  of  God  is  revealed  from  faith  to 
faith.  The  convicting  of  the  Holy  Ghost  con- 
sists no  more  of  a  conviction  of  human  sinfulness 
and  need  of  salvation  than  it  does  of  the  perfect 
righteousness  of  Christ  wrought  out  on  earth  and 
sealed  and  warranted  by  His  triumphal  departure 
from  this  world.  Men  are  convicted  of  sin,  be- 
cause of  their  unbelief  in  Christ:  of  righteousness 
because  of  His  finished  work. 

(3)  But  there  is  one  more  step.  "As  to  judg- 
ment, because  the  Prince  of  this  world  has  been 
judged."  If  there  is  a  sin,  and  a  righteousness, 
there  is  also  a  judgment.  And  men  must  know 
it.  The  third  element  in  the  Spirit's  demonstra- 
tion is  the  conviction  of  men  of  the  overhanging 
judgment.  This  He  performs  by  means  of  the 
obvious  condemnation  in  Christ's  person  and  work 
of  the  Prince  of  this  world,  involving  those  who 
hold  of  his  part  in  the  same  destruction.  That 
the  world  and  all  that  is  in  it  is  of  the  Evil  One, 
that  there  is  no  life  in  it  and  no  help  for  the  chil- 
dren of  men,  is  one  element  of  the  Spirit's  testi- 
mony to  the  preached  Gospel;  that  this  world 
is  under  condemnation  and  reserved  for  the  eternal 
fire  is  but  another  element  of  it.      Everywhere 


126  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

where  the  Spirit  carries  His  demonstration  men 
know  what  judgment  is,  and  they  know  it  by 
perceiving  the  judgment  of  the  Evil  one. 

We  should  not  permit  to  slip  from  our  minds 
that  we  have  here  the  Saviour's  own  exposition 
of  the  method  and  manner  of  His  spiritual  con- 
quest of  the  world.  This  conquest  is  assured.  It 
is  the  Spirit  who  performs  it.  And  the  method 
of  His  work  in  it  is  by  accompanying  the  preached 
word  with  His  demonstration  and  power.  This 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  consists  in  convicting 
the  world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment. 
Is  conviction  of  sin  then,  we  may  ask,  necessary  to 
salvation  .f^  Is  conviction  of  sin  the  first  step  of 
salvation?  Let  those  smitten  souls  at  Pentecost 
answer,  who  cried  aloud.  Men  and  Brethren,  what 
shall  we  do.^^  Is  conviction  of  righteousness  neces- 
sary to  salvation.'^  A  convinced  and  convicted 
appreciation  of  the  needs  of  our  soul  which  alone 
can  be  found  in.  Christ  Jesus  .^^  Ask  him  who  has 
proved  to  us  that  the  whole  world  lies  alike  under 
the  wrath  of  God,  and  that  by  the  works  of  the 
law  no  flesh  can  be  justified,  and  who  adds  to 
this  word  of  terror  the  only  word  of  hope:  But 
now  apart  from  the  law  a  righteousness  of  God 
has  been  revealed,  even  the  righteousness  of  God 
through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  unto  all  them  that 
believe;  for  there  is  no  difference,  for  all  have 
sinned  and  fallen  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  And 
as  to  conviction    of   judgment,    ask   Felix,   who 


THE  CONVICTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT      127 

trembled  as  this  same  Paul  reasoned  of  right- 
eousness and  temperance  and  judgment  to  come. 
Assuredly,  my  brethren,  would  we  be  saved, 
we  must  know  what  sin  is,  we  must  know  what 
righteousness  is  and  where  it  may  be  found,  and 
we  must  tremble  before  the  judgment  which  that 
righteousness  must  pass  on  our  sin.  Christ  has 
performed  His  work,  and  with  the  shout  of  "It 
is  finished"  upon  His  lips,  has  ascended  to  His 
throne  on  high,  and  there,  seated  by  the  right 
hand  of  God,  He  has  shed  forth  this  which  we 
even  now  see  and  hear.  The  Spirit  is  in  the 
world  and  wherever  the  Gospel  of  God's  grace  is 
faithfully  preached  He  attends  it  with  His  dem- 
onstration and  power.  And  what  does  He  dem- 
onstrate to  our  souls .f^  That  we  are  sinners; 
that  we  need  a  God-provided  righteousness;  that 
otherwise  we  must  partake  in  the  judgment  of 
the  Prince  of  this  world.  This  is  God's  way  and 
it  is  the  only  way.     Let  us  be  fully  assured  of  it! 


CHRIST'S  PRAYER  FOR  HIS  PEOPLE 

Jno.  17:15: — "I  pray  not  that  thou  shouldst  take  them  from  the 
world,  but  that  thou  shouldst  keep  them  from  the  evil  one." 

The  text  suggests  strongly  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  world  and  heaven,  and  the  relations 
which  the  servants  of  Christ  bear  to  each.  The 
world  and  heaven  are  contrasted  ideas;  con- 
trasted places,  and  contrasted  states.  And  the 
peculiarity  of  the  relations  which  Christians  bear 
to  these  contrasted  places  and  states  is  that  they 
may  be  at  the  same  time  in  very  express  relations 
to  both.  Our  Lord  Himself,  while  walking  this 
earth  of  ours  as  a  man  among  men,  was  yet  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Father.  And  the  Christian,  His 
follower,  while  still  in  the  world,  the  object  of  the 
world's  hate  and  the  recipient  of  its  persecution, 
may  yet  be  in  the  heavenly  places  with  his  Lord. 
Let  us  resolve  the  paradox,  by  considering  in  turn : 

I.  Our  Lord's  idea  of  "the  world." 
II.  His  idea  of  heaven. 
III.  His  desire  for  His  followers. 

It  is  often  said,  and  this  is  the  first  thought 
that  occurs  to  us  on  facing  this  paradox,  that  our 
Lord's  idea  of  "the  world,"  as  recorded  in  John,  is 
an  ethical  rather  than  a  local  one.  But  this  must 
not  be  taken  too  exclusively.     Our  present  verse 

128 


CHRIST'S  PRAYER  FOR  HIS  PEOPLE    129 

is  the  disproof  of  too  exclusive  an  attribution  of 
the  ethical  idea  to  the  Lord.  Christ  prays  that 
his  followers  should  not  be  taken  out  of  the  world, 
but  yet  should  be  kept  from  the  evil.  In  this 
single  prayer,  the  word  "world"  is  used  in  quito 
a  variety  of  implications.  In  the  fifth  verse  it 
means  apparently  the  universe,  as  a  creation.  In 
the  eleventh  verse,  it  is  equivalent  to  the  earth, 
with  the  implication  that  it  is  the  world  of  man 
that  is  in  mind.  It  is  plainly  the  world  of  man 
in  the  fifteenth  verse.  But  as  man  is  sinful  man, 
it  usually  in  this  sense  has  the  connotation  of  what 
we  call  the  sinful  world,  and  this  sense  comes  out 
strongly  in  the  ninth  verse,  where  Christ's  follow- 
ers are  contrasted  with  the  world,  and  more 
strongly  still  in  verses  fourteen  and  sixteen,  where 
the  world  is  said  to  hate  the  good,  and  so  also  in 
the  twenty -first  and  twenty-third  verses.  In  a 
word,  then,  the  term  world  means  usually  the 
world  of  mankind,  which,  because  man  is  uni- 
versally sinful,  comes  to  bear  the  implication  of 
the  world  of  sinful  man,  which  then  is  brought 
into  contrast  with  Christ's  children  in  whom  the 
power  of  sin  is  broken  and  a  radical  divergence 
from  the  world  begun.  Accordingly,  when  they 
come  to  Christ,  they  come  "out  of  the  world," 
even  though  they  remain  in  the  world.  The 
"world"  therefore  designates  a  place,  but  this 
place  as  the  abode  of  man,  and  this  man  as  sinful. 
And  though  there  is  an  ethical  colouring  to  the 


130  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

term,  yet  this  ethical  colouring  does  not  constitute 
its  essence.  Because  there  is  an  ethical  colouring 
to  it  Christ  represents  His  people  as  gathered  out 
of  the  world;  and  because  this  ethical  colouring 
does  not  constitute  its  essence,  we  can,  neverthe- 
less speak  of  them  remaining  in  the  world  while 
kept  from  its  evil. 

The  idea  of  heaven,  as  the  contrast  to  that  of 
the  world,  must,  therefore,  partake  of  this  two- 
fold sense.  It  is  primarily  a  place,  to  which 
Christ's  children  would  be  removed  if  they  were 
taken  out  of  the  world.  But  as  the  world  is  a 
bad  place,  so  heaven,  its  contrast,  is  a  good  place; 
and  those  who  are  good  are,  therefore,  already  in 
principle  in  it.  Therefore  Paul  tells  us  that  our 
citizenship  is  in  heaven,  and  that  we  may  even 
here  and  now  be  with  Christ  in  the  heavenly 
places.  The  word  "heaven"  does  not  occur  in 
this  prayer.  It  does  occur  in  the  introduction  to 
it,  where  we  are  told  that  "Jesus,  lifting  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  said  Father,"  as  if  His  pure  eyes 
pierced  the  wall  of  space  and  saw  the  Invisible 
One.  Heaven  is,  therefore,  in  this  context,  the 
place  where  God  is  in  His  manifested  glory,  in 
contrast  with  the  world  where  the  "god  of  this 
world"  manifests  his  power  for  a  season.  Ac- 
cordingly our  Lord  speaks  of  it  as  the  place  where 
God  can  be  known  and  enjoyed,  or  with  more  per- 
sonal point  and  pathos,  as  the  place  where  He 
Himself  should  be,  in  His  destined  glory  which 


CHRIST'S  PRAYER  FOR  HIS  PEOPLE     131 

was  also  His  primal  glory;  where  He,  as  He  is, 
and  not  as,  in  His  humiliation.  He  has  seemed, 
should  be  and  be  manifested,  and  where  His 
children  should  be  partakers  of  His  glory. 

And  now  what  is  Christ's  desire  for  His  people? 

It  is  certainly  not  that  they  should  remain  in 
the  world,  in  its  ethical  sense.  Already  they  had 
been  given  Him  out  of  the  world,  and  therefore 
they  were  no  more  of  the  world — no  more  than 
Christ  Himself  was.  The  truth  had  already  been 
given  them,  that  truth  which  should  free  from 
sin, — God's  own  name  had  been  manifested  to 
and  in  them, — and  they  were  in  radical  opposi- 
tion to  the  world,  so  that  the  world  hated  them. 
Accordingly  His  prayer  distinctly  is  that  they 
should  be  kept  from  that  evil  which  constituted 
the  very  characteristic  of  the  world,  and  that  their 
sanctification  should  be  continued  in  the  truth. 
He  does  not  desire  them  to  remain  in  the  world  in 
this  sense.  He  has  instituted  a  radical  contrari- 
ety between  them  and  "the  world"  ethically  con- 
sidered; and  He  is  providing  for  this  contra- 
riety to  widen  into  an  ever  broadening  gulf. 

Just  as  certainly,  it  is  not  that  they  should 
remain  always  in  the  world,  in  its  more  local  sense. 
The  tone  of  joy  with  which  the  Lord  notes  that 
the  time  of  His  sojourn  on  earth  is  over  and  He  is 
ready  to  re-enter  His  heavenly  glory  is  unmis- 
takable. Equally  unmistakable  is  the  tone  of 
sadness  with  which  He  adverts  to  leaving  His 


132  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

followers  in  the  world.  They  are  in  danger  there; 
in  danger  from  the  world's  hate;  and  in  danger 
from  the  world's  temptation.  They  are  away 
from  their  true  and  proper  home  there — in  the 
enemy's  country — not  householders  at  home,  but 
soldiers  on  duty,  pilgrims  on  their  journey.  He 
longs  for  them  to  enter  their  rest.  And  though 
He  leaves  them  joy  and  the  means  of  more  joy 
in  the  word  of  truth.  His  desire  for  them  is  some- 
thing higher  than  they  can  find  here  below.  Nay, 
His  distinct  "will"  for  them  is  that  they  also  may 
be  with  Him  where  He  is  to  be;  that  they  may  be- 
hold His  glory;  that  they  may  share  in  that  glory. 
He  wishes  for  them  what  His  servant  afterwards 
declared  to  be  "far  better,"  that  they  too  like 
Him  should  go  out  of  the  world  and  enter  into 
glory — where  Christ  is  on  the  right  hand  of  God, 
where  God  dwells  and  His  knowledge  is,  and  where 
love  is  perfected  in  all. 

But  it  is  that  they  may  temporarily  remain  in 
the  world,  out  of  which  they  have  in  one  sense 
already  come,  but  in  which,  in  the  other  sense, 
they  are  still  left,  while  kept  from  the  evil 
of  it. 

Why?  Well,  for  one  thing,  for  their  own  sakes 
— that  they  may  be  sanctified.  God's  name  has 
already  been  manifested  to  them;  God's  words 
have  already  been  given  them;  and  they  have  re- 
ceived them;  and  men  hate  them  for  it.  The 
good  work  is  already,  therefore,  begun  with  them. 


CHRIST'S  PRAYER  FOR  HIS  PEOPLE     133 

Its  fruits  are  already  shown  in  their  radical  de- 
parture from  the  world  and  the  world's  conse- 
quent hatred.  But  the  work  is  not  completed. 
Therefore,  the  Saviour  prays  that  "they  may  be 
sanctified  in  the  truth,"  that  "they  themselves 
also  may  be  sanctified"  in  truth,  just  as  He  had 
been.  They  are  to  remain  in  the  world  then  for 
their  own  sakes  that  the  good  work  begun  in  them 
may  be  perfected  unto  the  end.  This  appears  as 
needful.  Not,  of  course,  as  if  they  might  not 
conceivably,  like  the  dying  thief,  be  prepared 
for  heaven  in  a  moment.  God's  almighty  grace 
can  work  wonders.  But  that  is  not  God's  or- 
dinary way;  the  muscles  of  holiness  must  grow 
by  practice;  hence  temptation  itself  and  trials  are 
blessings.  Hence,  too,  it  emerges  that  sanctifi- 
cation  is  to  take  place  in  this  life,  in  the  ordinary 
provision  of  God.  God's  children  are  to  remain 
in  the  world  for  their  sanctification. 

For  another  thing,  for  others'  sake.  God's 
plans  need  their  presence  in  and  work  for  the 
world.  They  are  not  the  whole  harvest,  but  the 
first  fruits  only.  And  that  the  first  fruits  may 
share  in  the  harvest,  it  is  needful  to  have  them 
stay  and  labour  here.  They  are  to  be  the  seed — 
**  the  good  seed  are  they  who  ..."  And  after  a 
while  this  sowing  is  to  ripen  into  a  goodly  in- 
gathering. Accordingly,  our  Lord  prays  not  only 
for  them  but  for  them  also  who  believe — through- 
out the  whole  future — on  Him  by  their  word.     His 


134  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

glance  takes  in  His  whole  Church,  of  all  the  ages; 
and  these  are  to  abide  for  it. 

For  still  another  thing,  for  the  sake  of  the  world 
itself.  There  is  a  testimony  to  be  borne  to  the 
wicked  world  itself.  "The  wicked  world,"  ap- 
parently, because  in  contrast  here  not  only  with 
those  whom  Christ  left  behind,  but  also  with 
those  who  should  believe  on  His  name  through 
their  word.  The  world  is  to  be  convicted  of  sin 
and  convinced  of  Christ's  mission  and  glory.  His 
own  are  to  remain  in  the  world  and  to  propagate 
and  grow  into  a  mighty,  unitary  Church,  in  order 
that  the  world  itself  may  know  that  the  lowly 
Jesus  whom  it  has  despised  and  rejected  is  none 
other  than  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  these  lowly 
followers  of  His,  despised  and  persecuted  by  it, 
are  loved  of  the  Father  even  as  the  Father  loves 
Him.  The  mighty  testimony  of  the  Church  of 
God!  How  little  we  are  bearing  it!  How  we 
ought  to  bestir  ourselves  to  it! 

And  then,  finally,  we  must  say  also,  for  the 
Son's  own  sake.  For  He,  too,  reaps  advantages 
from  their  abiding  below.  So,  and  humanly 
speaking,  so  only,  may  His  mission  be  vindicated 
and  His  glory  manifested  to  the  world,  in  His 
Church;  may  His  glory  be  fully  manifested  to 
His  own,  when  at  last  they  come  to  Him;  may 
His  love  then  be  perfected  in  them. 

For  these  reasons,  at  least,  it  is  well  that  Christ's 
people  remain  for  a  season  in  this  wicked  world. 


THE  OUTPOURING  OF  THE   SPIRIT 

Acts  2:16,  17: — "This  is  that  which  hath  been  spoken  through 
the  prophet  Joel.  ...  I  will  pour  forth  of  my   Spirit." 

In  any  attempt  to  estimate  the  significance  of 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  consid- 
ered as  the  inauguration  of  the  New  Dispensa- 
tion, the  following  two  considerations  must  be 
made  fundamental. 

The  Spirit  was  active  under  the  Old  Dispensa- 
tion in  all  the  modes  of  His  activity  under  the 
New  Dispensation.  This  is  evinced  by  the  rec- 
ords of  the  activities  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
Old  Testament,  which  run  through  the  whole 
series  of  the  Spirit's  works;  and  by  the  ascription 
by  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  of  all  the 
working  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  Old  Testament 
to  their  own  personal  Holy  Ghost.  Thus,  for 
example,  the  inspiration  of  the  Old  Testament 
prophets  and  writers  is  ascribed  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  (2  Pet.  1:21;  1  Pet.  1:11;  Heb.  3:7,  10:15; 
Matt.  22:43;  Mark  12:36;  Acts  1:16,  and  28:25). 
The  authorship  of  the  ritual  service  of  the  sanc- 
tuary is  ascribed  to  Him  (Heb.  9:8).  The  leading 
of  Israel  in  the  wilderness  and  throughout  its 
history  is  ascribed  to  Him  (Acts  7:51).  It  was  in 
Him  that  Christ  preached    to  the  antediluvians 

135 


136  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

(1  Pet.  3:18).  He  was  the  author  of  faith  then 
as  now  (2  Cor.  4:13). 

Nevertheless,  the  change  of  dispensation  con- 
sisted primarily  just  in  this:  that  in  the  New  Dis- 
pensation the  Spirit  was  given  (so  John  7:39; 
16:7;   20:22;   Acts  2). 

The  problem,  therefore,  is  to  understand  how 
the  New  Dispensation  can  be  thus  by  way  of  dis- 
crimination the  Dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  char- 
acterized by  the  giving  of  the  Spirit,  while  yet  He 
was  active  in  the  Old  Dispensation  in  all  the  modes 
of  His  activity  under  the  New.  For  the  solving 
of  this  problem  we  shall  need  to  exercise  a  humble 
courage  in  embracing  the  standpoint  of  Scripture 
itself. 

In  order  to  do  this,  we  must  observe  that  the 
operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost  were  forfeited  by 
man  through  sin.  Adam  enjoyed  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  it  was  through  the  Spirit's 
inworking  that  Adam  was  enabled  to  withstand 
temptation,  and  by  it  that  he  might  have  been 
led  safely  through  his  probation  and  afterwards 
confirmed  in  holiness.  When  Adam  sinned  he 
lost  the  gift  of  original  righteousness,  indeed,  but 
with  it  also  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the 
depravation  into  which  he  and  his  posterity 
sank — according  to  the  fearful  history  recorded 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Romans — has  lying  at  its 
foundation  the  deprivation  of  the  Holy  Ghost's 
influences. 


THE  OUTPOURING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     137 

The  Lord  never,  indeed,  wholly  turns  away  from 
any  work  of  His  hands;  did  He  do  so,  it  would  fall 
at  once  on  the  removal  of  His  upholding  hand, 
like  the  unhooped  barrel,  back  into  nothingness. 
In  His  providence,  and  in  what  we  call  His  com- 
mon grace.  He  continues  to  work  among  even 
His  sinful  creatures  who  have  lost  all  claim  upon 
His  love.  But  just  because  they  are  sinful,  they 
have  forfeited  all  the  operations  of  His  grace  and 
deserve  at  His  hands  only  wrath.  After  the  sin 
of  Adam,  the  whole  world  lies  in  wickedness;  and 
just  because  it  lies  in  wickedness  it  is  deprived 
of  the  inhabitation  of  the  Spirit  of  holiness. 

But  though  the  race  has  thus  by  its  sin  for- 
feited the  right  to  the  inward  work  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  God  may  in  His  infinite  grace  restore  the 
Spirit  to  man,  as  soon  as,  and  in  so  far  as.  He  can 
make  it  just  and  righteous  so  to  do.  In  the  aton- 
ing work  of  Christ,  He  has  laid  the  foundation 
for  such  a  restoration  in  righteousness.  But  we 
are  dependent  on  the  Scriptures  to  inform  us  how 
far  this  restoration  extends  intensively  and  ex- 
tensively. We  are  not  authorized  to  argue  that 
because  of  the  remedy  for  sin  offered  in  Christ, 
God  must  or  may  treat  sin  as  if  it  never  had  ex- 
isted, so  that  all  that  the  race  has  lost  in  Adam  is 
restored  in  Christ,  and  that  for  all  the  sinful  race 
alike.  It  may  be  consonant  with  what  we  could 
wish  to  be  true,  so  to  argue.  But  it  is  obvious 
that  were  this,   in  fact,   the  state  of  the  case, 


138  lAlTlI  AND  LIFE 

th(*  Titer,  would  luivc  Ix'rn  rcstorcrl  in  Christ,  from 
the  inoincnt  ol'  Aihim's  fiill,  and  would  have  been 
continued  iji  holy  development  unbrokenly. 
Adam's  sin  wouhJ,  in  that  case,  have  been  a  ben- 
efit to  the  race;  it  would  have  curtailed  its  pro- 
bation and  placed  the  nice  at  once  at  tin;  goal  of 
attainment  which  h.id  been  promised  to  obedi- 
ence. Obedience  and  (iisobedience  obviously 
would,  in  th.it  case,  have  been  all  one;  the  end 
ol)tained  would  have  been  precisely  the  same. 
Whence  it  woidd  follow  that  Ailam's  probation 
was  a  mere  farce,  if  not  even  that  the  Divine  re- 
gard for  moral  distinctions  was  a  pretence. 

Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  according  to  either 
Scrii)tnre  or  the  experience  of  the  race  than  that 
this  course  was  not  taken.  The  Lord  did  not,  at 
once,  treat  sin  as  if  it  had  never  occurred.  He 
did,  inch'cd,  at  on(!e  institute  a  remedial  scheme 
by  which  the  ed'ect  of  sin  rrnght  be  obliterated 
to  the  extent  and  in  the  mariner  whic'h  was  pleas- 
ing to  His  glorious  judgment;  but  clearly  it  was 
not  |)lea,sing  to  Dim,  on  I  he  basis  of  the  atone- 
ment, to  set  aside  the  fad  of  sin  altogether.  ITow 
far,  on  this  basis.  He  was  pleased  to  set  aside  the 
fact  of  sin  and  restore  to  men  the  Spirit  of  holiness 
of  whom  they  had  been  deprived  on  account  of 
sin,  we  are  wholly  dependent  u|)()n  His  Word  to 
tell  us. 

On  the  basis  of  the  Scriptural  declarations,  it  is 
perfectly  evident  that  it  was  not  the  plan  of  God 


TUK  OnTPOTIRFNG  OF  TTIIO  SIM  HIT     1.S9 

to  rcslon'  I  lie  lo.sl,  Spiril,  lo  man  universally.  'Vhr. 
(ircadfnl  fact,  .slarcs  ns  full  in  tli<'  face  that,  God 
lias  llioii^dil  w<ll  l<»  \rnvr  soiric  men  <'t(Tnally 
vvillioiil  IIk'  Spiril  of  liolirH'ss.  1 1  is  ohvions  l,li;il, 
in  I  lie  cxrculion  of  Mis  pl.-iri  of  <iis(TiininaLion 
afiion^  irMMi,  il,  w.js  fioI  His  plan  lo  <lisl,ril)iit(;  the 
saving  operations  of  His  Spiril,  e(jnally  tliroii^Ii 
eillier  si)a('e  or  time.  His  sov<'rei^nly  shows  it- 
self not  only  in  f)assin^  hy  one  individujil  and 
^'ranlin^  His  /^q;ie<'  l,o  ;inolli<*r;  l>nl  also  in  i)assin^ 
hy  one  nnlion,  or  one  ;i^e,  ;iiid  ^r.irilin^  His  ^rae(^ 
lo  another.  And  in  His  insernl;d)le  wisdom  it 
has  obviously  heen  His  plan  to  eonfin<'  IIm^  op(Ta- 
lions  of  His  ^vncv  Ihrouf^h  many  a^M's  to  on<; 
people  of  His  choice,  passing  hy  llw  rial  ions  of  the 
world  at  lar^'e,  arul  leaving  IImmu  to  I  heir  sin. 
This  is  IIm'  riManiri^'  of  llie  choice  of  Israel  and  IIk; 
divine  ^niidance  of  llial,  chosen  people. 

W<'  cannot  fa  I  horn  all  the  i)uri)ose  of  (iod  in 
I  his  dis[)osition  of  His  ^'rac<'.  W<'  may  Me<'  (h*- 
reclly,  however,  that  III  us  a,  twofohi  <'rid  was  se- 
cured. Sin  was  allowed  t,o  work  ilself  out  on  the 
sta^<'  of  a,  world-wide  life,  willi  the  result  that  it 
cxhihii.ed  all  ils  horror  and  all  its  lu'lplessncss. 
And  ^ra<'e  conlinuously  had  its  lroi)hies  on  the 
sialic  of  Israel itisli  life.  Israel  thus  served  as  a 
foil  to  exhihit  t}i<'  corrui)l.ion  of  the  nalions; 
and  at  the  sanie  lime  pr*es<'rved  th<'  continuity  of 
(iod's  people  thr'oii/^h  lime  and  suf)plied  the 
starting'  point  for  the  universal  extension  of  His 


140  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Kingdom  when  at  length  the  set  time  for  its  in- 
auguration should  come.  At  all  events,  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  Scriptures,  on  which  we  are  depend- 
ent for  all  knowledge  of  the  work  of  God's  Spirit, 
confine  all  their  declarations  of  the  work  of  the 
Spirit  through  these  gathering  years  to  the  theo- 
cratic people.  Only  within  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  theocracy  does  the  Spirit  of  God  work  from 
Adam  to  Christ — from  the  first  man  through 
whom  came  death  to  the  Second  Man  through 
whom  came  redemption. 

And  now  we  are,  perhaps,  in  a  position  to  under- 
stand the  contrast  between  the  first  and  second 
dispensations,  when  the  second  is  called  the  Dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  inaugurated  by  the  visi- 
ble outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost,  al- 
though the  Spirit  had  been  the  guide  of  Israel, 
and  the  sanctifier  of  the  people  of  God  from  the 
beginning.  The  new  dispensation  is  the  Dispen- 
sation of  the  Spirit,  whether  we  consider  the  ex- 
tent of  the  Spirit's  operations,  the  object  of  His 
operations,  the  mode  of  the  Divine  administra- 
tion of  His  Kingdom,  or  the  intensity  of  the  Spir- 
it's action. 

The  new  dispensation  is  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  because  in  it  the  Spirit  of  God  is  poured 
out  upon  all  flesh.  This  element  in  the  change  is 
made  emphatic  in  the  predictions  w^hich  prepared 
the  way  for  it — as  in  the  prophecy  of  Joel  which 
Peter  quotes  in  his  Pentecostal  sermon;   and  it  is 


THE  OUTPOURING  OF  THE  SPIRIT    141 

symbolized  in  the  miraculous  attestation  by 
which  it  is  inaugurated — in  the  tongues  that  dis- 
tributed themselves  on  the  heads  of  the  agents 
of  the  new  proclamation — "as  if  of  fire" — and 
in  the  "gift  of  tongues"  by  which  the  universality 
of  their  mission  was  intimated.  Here  is  the  central 
idea  of  the  new  dispensation.  It  is  world-wide 
in  its  scope;  the  period  of  preparation  being  over, 
the  world-wide  Kingdom  of  God  was  now  to  be 
inaugurated,  and  the  Spirit  was  now  to  be  poured 
upon  all  flesh.  No  longer  was  one  people  to  be  its 
sole  recipients,  but  the  remedy  was  to  be  applied 
to  all  peoples  alike. 

The  new  dispensation  is  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit,  again,  because  now  the  object  of  the  Spir- 
it's work  is,  for  the  first  time,  to  recover  the  world 
from  its  sin.  Of  course,  this  was  its  ultimate 
object  from  the  beginning;  but  during  the  period 
of  preparation  it  was  only  its  ultimate,  not  its 
proximate  object.  Its  proximate  object  then 
was  preparation,  now  it  was  performance.  Then 
it  was  to  preserve  a  seed,  sound  and  pure  for  the 
planting;  now  it  was  the  reaping  of  the  harvest. 
It  required  the  Spirit's  power  to  keep  the  seed 
safe  during  the  cold  and  dark  winter;  it  requires  it 
now  to  plant  the  seed  and  water  it  and  cause  it 
to  grow  into  the  great  tree,  in  the  branches  of 
which  all  the  fowls  of  the  air  may  rest.  The 
Spirit  is  the  leaven  which  leavens  the  world;  in 
Israel  it  is  that  leaven  laid  away  in  the  closet  until 


142  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  day  of  leavening  comes;  when  that  day  comes 
and  it  is  drawn  out  of  its  dark  corner  and  placed 
in  the  heap  of  meal — then,  indeed,  the  day  of  the 
leaven  has  come.  Or  to  use  a  figure  of  Isaiah's, 
during  all  those  dark  ages  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
confined  to  Israel,  was  like  a  pent-in  stream. 
The  Spirit  of  God  was  its  life,  its  principle,  during 
all  the  ages;  it  was  He  that  kept  it  pent  in.  Now 
the  Kingdom  of  God  is  like  that  pent-in  stream 
with  the  barriers  broken  down,  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  driving  it. 

The  new  dispensation  is,  once  more,  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Spirit,  because  now  the  mode  of 
the  administration  of  God's  Kingdom  has  be- 
come spiritual.  This  is  in  accordance  with  its 
new  extent  and  its  new  object,  and  is  intended  to 
secure  and  to  advance  its  universality  and  its 
rapid  progress.  In  the  old  dispensation,  the 
Kingdom  of  God  was  in  a  sense  of  this  world; 
it  had  its  relation  to  and  its  place  among  earthly 
states;  it  was  administered  by  outward  ordinances 
and  enactments  and  hierarchies.  In  the  new  dis- 
pensation the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  of  this 
world;  it  has  no  relation  to  or  place  among  earthly 
states;  it  is  not  administered  by  external  or- 
dinances. The  Kingdom  of  God  now  is  within 
you;  its  law  is  written  on  the  heart;  it  is  admin- 
istered by  an  inward  force.  Where  the  Jewish 
ordinances  extended,  there  of  old  was  the  King- 
dom of  God;  where  men  were  circumcised  on  the 


THE  OUTPOURING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     143 

eighth  day,  where  they  turned  their  faces  to  the 
Temple  at  the  hours  of  sacrifice,  and  whence  they 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  the  annual  feasts.  A 
centralized  worship  we  say;  for  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem  was  the  place  where  God  might  be 
acceptably  worshipped  and  they  were  of  the 
Kingdom  who  owned  its  sway.  Now,  "where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  the  Church" — 
as  Tertullian  and  Irenseus  and  Ignatius  tell  us; 
wherever  the  Spirit  works — and  He  works  when 
and  where  and  how  He  will — there  is  the  Church 
of  God.  We  are  freed  from  the  outward  ordi- 
nances. Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not;  and  are 
under  the  sway  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  alone. 
An  inward  power  takes  the  place  of  an  out- 
ward commandment;  love  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts  supplants  fear  as  our  motive;  a  Divine 
strength  replaces  our  human  weakness. 

Finally,  we  may  say  that  the  new  dispensa- 
tion is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  because  now 
the  Spirit  works  in  the  hearts  of  God's  people 
with  a  more  prevailing  and  a  more  pervading 
force.  We  cannot  doubt  that  He  regenerated  and 
sanctified  the  souls  of  God's  saints  in  the  old  dis- 
pensation; we  cannot  doubt  that  He  was  operat- 
ing creatively  in  them  in  renewing  their  hearts, 
and  that  He  was  powerfully  present  in  them, 
leading  them  in  right  paths.  "Create  within  me 
a  new  heart  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me" 
is  an  Old  Testament  prayer;    and  it  must  repre- 


144  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

sent  an  Old  Testament  experience.  And  yet  we 
seem  to  be  not  merely  authorized  but  compelled 
to  look  upon  the  mode  of  the  Spirit's  work  as 
more  powerful  and  prevailing  in  the  new  dispen- 
sation than  in  the  old.  For  in  these  new  times, 
God  seems  to  promise  not  only  that  He  will  pour 
out  His  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  but  that  He  will  pour 
Him  out  in  an  especial  manner  on  His  people. 
In  what  sense  would  the  fact  that  He  will  pour 
out  the  Spirit  on  the  seed  of  Israel  be  character- 
istic of  the  new  dispensation,  if  there  were  not 
some  advance  here  on  the  old.^^  Such  a  passage  as 
Ezekiel  36:26  or  Zech.  12:10  would  seem  to  mean 
as  much  as  this:  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will  work 
so  powerfully  in  the  hearts  of  God's  people  in  the 
new  time,  that  the  sanctification  which  had  lagged 
behind  in  the«old  should  be  completed  now.  That 
is  to  say,  there  is  here  the  promise  of  a  holy 
Church.  This  too,  no  doubt,  is  of  progressive 
realization.  After  a  number  of  Christian  cen- 
turies we  have  cause  still  to  weep  over  the  back- 
slidings  of  the  people  of  God  as  truly  as  Israel  had. 
But  Christ  is  perfecting  His  Church  even  as  He 
perfects  the  individual,  and  after  a  while  He  will 
present  it  to  Himself  a  holy  Church,  without  spot 
or  wrinkle  or  any  such  thing. 

Surely  it  must  mean  much  to  us  that  we  live 
in  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  a  dispensation 
in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  is  poured  out  upon  all 
flesh  with  the  end  of  extending  the  bounds  of 


THE  OUTPOURING  OF  THE  SPIRIT     145 

God's  Kingdom  until  it  covers  the  earth;  and 
that  He  is  poured  out  in  the  hearts  of  His  people 
so  that  He  reigns  in  their  hearts  and  powerfully 
determines  them  to  do  holiness  and  righteousness 
all  the  days  of  their  lives.  Because  we  live  under 
this  dispensation,  we  are  free  from  the  outward 
pressure  of  law  and  have  love  shed  abroad  in  our 
hearts,  and,  being  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  are 
His  Sons,  yielding  a  willing  obedience  and  by  in- 
stinct doing  what  is  conformable  to  His  will. 
Because  this  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  we 
are  in  the  hands  of  the  loving  Spirit  of  God  whose 
work  in  us  cannot  fail;  and  the  world  is  in  His 
powerful  guidance  and  shall  roll  on  in  a  steady 
development  until  it  knows  the  Lord  and  His 
will  is  done  on  earth  as  in  heaven.  It  is  because 
this  is  the  dispensation  of  the  Spirit  that  it  is  a 
missionary  age;  and  it  is  because  it  is  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  Spirit  that  missions  shall  make  their 
triumphant  progress  until  earth  passes  at  last 
into  heaven.  It  is  because  this  is  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit  that  it  is  an  age  of  ever-increasing 
righteousness  and  it  is  because  it  is  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit  that  this  righteousness  shall 
wax  and  wax  until  it  is  perfect.  Blessed  be  God 
that  He  has  given  it  to  our  eyes  to  see  this  His 
glory  in  the  process  of  its  coming. 


PRAYER  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE 

Acts  9:11: — "For  behold,  he  prayeth." 

We  read  these  words,  "For  behold,  he  prayeth," 
of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  immediately  after  the  account 
of  how,  when  he  was  journeying  from  Jerusalem 
to  Damascus  on  his  persecuting  errand,  he  was 
smitten  to  the  ground  by  the  Divine  hand  and 
raised  again  by  those  gracious  words — how  gra- 
cious, how  inexplicably  gracious  they  must  have 
seemed  to  him! — which  promised  him  service  for 
the  very  One  whom  he  was  now  persecuting. 
And  when  we  read  them  our  first  thought  is  likely 
to  turn  on  the  appropriateness  of  prayer  in  the 
circumstances.  Thus  the  theme  is  obviously  sug- 
gested of  prayer  as  the  appropriate  expression  of 
the  renewed  sinner's  heart.  On  this  subject  I 
I  shall  not,  however,  speak  to  you  just  now.  I 
wish  to  call  your  attention,  rather,  to  another  sub- 
ject for  meditation  which  also  lies  in  our  passage, 
though  perhaps  not  so  prominently.  That  is, 
Prayer  as  a  means  of  Grace. 

If  we  look  closely  at  this  verse  we  shall  see  that 
it  suggests  prayer  as  a  means  of  grace.  You  will 
notice  that  it  reads,  ''For  behold,  he  prayeth,  and 
he  hath  seen"  a  vision  of  Ananaias  coming  to  him 
to  restore  him  to  sight.     ''For  behold  he  prayeth 

146 


PRAYER  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE   147 

and'';  that  is,  this  statement  is  given  as  a  reason, 
and  as  a  reason  why  Ananaias  should  now  go  to 
him.  And  the  reason  is  that  Paul  is  now  pre- 
pared for  the  visit.  And  the  preparation  con- 
sists of  the  two  items  that  he  is  praying  and  that 
he  has  seen  in  a  vision  Ananaias  coming.  In 
other  words,  that  he  is  in  a  state  of  preparedness 
for  the  reception  of  grace  in  general  is  evidenced 
by  his  being  in  prayer;  while  he  is  prepared  for 
Ananaias'  coming  in  particular  through  the  vision. 
The  passage  thus  represents  prayer  as  the  state  of 
preparedness  for  the  reception  of  grace;  and, 
therefore,  in  the  strictest  sense  as  a  means  of 
grace.  We  purpose  to  look  at  it  for  a  few  mo- 
ments in  this  light. 

Even  if  we  should  not  rise  above  the  naturalis- 
tic plane,  I  think  we  might  be  able  to  see  that  the 
attitude  into  which  the  act  of  prayer  brings  the 
soul  is  one  which  especially  softens  the  soul  and 
lays  it  open  to  gracious  influences.  Say  that  we 
hold  with  those  who  believe  in  prayer,  but  do  not 
believe  in  answer  to  prayer.  Well,  is  not  the 
mental  attitude  assumed  in  prayer,  at  least,  an 
humble  attitude,  a  softening  attitude,  a  bene- 
ficfal  attitude  .f^  Do  we  not  see  that  thus  the  very 
act  of  prayer  by  its  reflex  influence  alone — could 
we  believe  in  no  more — will  tend  to  quiet  the  soul, 
break  down  its  pride  and  resistance,  and  fit  it 
for  a  humble  walk  in  the  world. ^^  In  its  very  na- 
ture, prayer  is  a  confession  of  weakness,  a  con- 


148  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fession  of  need,  of  dependence,  a  cry  for  help,  a 
reaching  out  for  something  stronger,  better,  more 
stable  and  trustworthy  than  ourselves,  on  which 
to  rest  and  depend  and  draw.  No  one  can  take 
this  attitude  once  without  an  effect  on  his  char- 
acter; no  one  can  take  it  in  a  crisis  of  his  life  with- 
out his  whole  subsequent  life  feeling  the  influence 
in  its  sweeter,  humbler,  more  devout  and  restful 
course;  no  one  can  take  it  habitually  without 
being  made,  merely  by  its  natural,  reflex  influ- 
ence, a  different  man,  in  a  very  profound  sense, 
from  what  he  otherwise  would  have  been.  Prayer, 
thus,  in  its  very  nature,  because  it  is  an  act  of 
self-abnegation,  a  throwing  of  ourselves  at  the 
feet  of  One  recognized  as  higher  and  greater  than 
we,  and  as  One  on  whom  we  depend  and  in  whom 
we  trust,  is  a  most  beneficial  influence  in  this  hard 
life  of  ours.  It  places  the  soul  in  an  attitude  of 
less  self-assertion  and  predisposes  it  to  walk  simply 
and  humbly  in  the  world. 

The  significance  of  all  this  is,  of  course,  vastly 
increased,  when  we  rise  above  the  region  of  natur- 
alism into  that  of  supernaturalism.  If  when  we 
believe  only  in  prayer  but  not  in  its  answer,  if 
when  we  look  only  for  a  natural,  reflex  influence 
on  our  life  of  the  attitude  into  which  prayer 
brings  us,  we  can  recognize  in  it  a  softening, 
blessing  effect;  how  much  more  when  we  perceive 
a  Divine  person  above  who  hears  and  answers  the 
prayer.     If  there  were  no  God,  we  can  see  that  it 


PRAYER  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE   149 

would  be  a  blessing  to  men  to  think  there  was  a 
God  and  throw  themselves  at  His  feet  in  prayer. 
If  there  is  a  God  who  sits  aloft  and  hears  and  an- 
swers, do  we  not  see  that  the  attitude  into  which 
prayer  brings  the  soul  is  the  appropriate  attitude 
which  the  soul  should  occupy  to  Him,  and  is  the 
truest  and  best  preparation  of  the  soul  for  the 
reception  of  His  grace?  The  soul  in  the  attitude 
of  prayer  is  like  the  flower  turned  upwards  to- 
wards the  sky  and  opening  for  the  reception  of  the 
life-giving  rain.  What  is  prayer  but  an  adoring 
appearing  before  God  with  a  confession  of  our 
need  and  helplessness  and  a  petition  for  His 
strength  and  blessing.^  What  is  prayer  but  a 
recognition  of  our  dependence  and  a  proclamation 
that  all  that  we  dependent  creatures  need  is 
found  abundantly  and  to  spare  in  God,  who  gives 
to  all  men  liberally  and  upbraids  not.^  What  is 
prayer  but  the  very  adjustment  of  the  heart  for 
the  influx  of  grace  .'^  Therefore  it  is  that  we  look 
upon  the  prayerful  attitude  as  above  all  others  the 
true  Christian  attitude — just  because  it  is  the 
attitude  of  devout  and  hopeful  dependence  on- 
God.  And,  therefore,  it  is  that  we  look  upon  that 
type  of  religious  teaching  as,  above  all  others,  the 
true  Christian  type  which  has  as  its  tendency  to 
keep  men  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  through  all 
their  lives. 

Every  type  of  religious  teaching  will  inevitably 
beget   its    corresponding   type   of   religious    life. 


150  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

And  that  teaching  alone  which  calls  upon  man  to 
depend  wholly  on  the  Lord  God  Almighty — our 
loving  Father  who  has  given  His  Son  to  die  for  us 
— for  all  the  exercises  of  grace,  will  make  Chris- 
tians whose  whole  life  is  a  prayer.  Not  that  other 
Christians  do  not  pray.  But  only  of  these  Chris- 
tians can  it  be  said  that  their  life  is  an  embodied 
prayer.  In  so  far  as  any  Christian's  life  is  a 
prayerful  life,  pervaded  by  and  made  up  out  of 
prayer,  it  approaches  in  its  silent  witness  the  ideal 
of  this  type  of  teaching.  What  other  attitude  is 
possible  to  a  Christian  on  his  knees  before  God  but 
an  attitude  of  entire  dependence  on  God  for  His 
gifts,  and  of  humble  supplication  to  Him  for  His 
favour?  But  are  we  to  rise  from  our  knees  only 
to  take  up  a  different  attitude  towards  God.^  Says 
one  of  the  greatest  thinkers  of  modern  times: 
"On  his  knees  before  God,  every  one  that  has 
been  saved  will  recognize  the  sole  efficiency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  every  good  work.  ...  In  a 
word,  whoever  truly  prays  ascribes  nothing  to 
his  own  will  or  power  except  the  sin  that  con- 
demns him  before  God,  and  knows  of  nothing 
that  could  endure  the  judgment  of  God  except  it 
be  wrought  within  him  by  the  Divine  love.  But 
whilst  all  other  tendencies  in  the  Church  preserve 
this  attitude  so  long  as  their  prayer  lasts,  to  lose 
themselves  in  radically  different  conceptions  as 
soon  as  the  Amen  has  been  pronounced,  the  Cal- 
vinist  adheres  to  the  truth  of  his  prayer,  in  his 


PRAYER  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE   151 

confession,  in  his  theology,  in  his  Hfe,  and  the 
Amen  that  has  closed  his  petition  re-echoes  in 
the  depths  of  his  consciousness  and  throughout 
the  whole  of  his  existence."  That  is  to  say,  for  us 
Calvinists  the  attitude  of  prayer  is  the  whole 
attitude  of  our  lives.  Certainly  this  is  the  true 
Christian  attitude,  because  it  is  the  attitude  of 
dependence,  and  trust.  But  just  because  this 
is  the  attitude  of  prayer,  prayer  puts  the  soul 
in  the  attitude  for  receiving  grace  and  is  essen- 
tially a  means  of  grace. 

But  once  again,  prayer  is  a  means  of  grace  be- 
cause it  is  a  direct  appeal  to  God  for  grace.  It  is 
in  its  very  innermost  core  a  petition  for  help  and 
that  is — proportionately  to  its  sphere — for  grace. 
The  means — the  most  direct  and  appropriate, 
the  most  prevailing  and  sure  means  of  obtaining 
aid  from  a  superior,  is  to  ask  for  it.  If  a  com- 
munity desires  a  boon  from  the  government,  it 
petitions  for  it.  The  means  above  all  others  by 
which  we  are  to  obtain  God's  blessing  is  natu- 
rally and  properly  to  petition  for  it.  It  is  true 
that  all  prayer  is  not  petition.  The  Apostle  gives 
us  a  list  of  the  aspects  of  prayer  in  1  Tim.  ii:l  sq. 
under  the  names  of  "supplications,  prayers,  in- 
tercessions, thanksgivings."  All  these  elements 
enter  into  prayer.  Prayer  in  its  full  conception 
is  then,  not  merely  asking  from  God,  but  all  in- 
tercourse with  God.  Intercourse,  indeed,  is  the 
precise   connotation   of   the   standing   word   for 


152  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

prayer  in  the  New  Testament — the  second  in  the 
list  of  1  Tim.  ii:l,  translated  in  our  version  sim- 
ply "pra^^ers."  The  sacred  idea  of  prayer  "per  se 
is,  therefore,  to  put  it  sharply,  just  communion 
with  God,  the  meeting  of  the  soul  with  God,  and 
the  holding  of  converse  with  Him.  Perhaps  we 
would  best  define  it  as  conscious  intercourse  or 
communion  with  God.  God  may  have  com- 
munion with  us  without  prayer;  He  may  enter 
our  souls  beneath  consciousness,  and  deal  with 
us  from  within;  and  because  He  is  within  us  we 
can  be  in  communion  with  Him  apart  from  prayer. 
But  conscious  communion  with  Him  is  just  prayer. 
Now,  I  think  we  may  say,  emphatically,  that 
prayer  is  a  means  of  grace  above  everything  else 
because  it  is  in  all  its  forms  conscious  communion 
with  God.  This  is  the  source  of  all  grace.  When 
the  soul  is  in  contact  with  God,  in  intercourse 
with  God,  in  association  with  Him,  it  is  not  only  in 
an  attitude  to  receive  grace;  It  is  not  only  ac- 
tually seeking  grace;  it  is  already  receiving  and 
possessing  grace.  And  intercourse  with  God  is 
the  very  essence  of  prayer. 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  praying  man, 
therefore,  as  destitute  of  grace.  If  he  prays,  really 
prays,  he  draws  near  to  God  with  heart  open  for 
grace,  humbly  depending  on  Him  for  its  gift. 
And  he  certainly  receives  it.  To  say,  Behold  he 
prayeth!  is  equivalent,  then,  to  saying,  Behold  a 
man    in    Christ!     Dr.    Charles    Hodge    used   to 


PRAYER  AS  A  MEANS  OF  GRACE   153 

startle  us  by  declaring  that  no  praying  soul  ever 
was  lost.  It  seemed  to  us  a  hard  saying.  Our 
diflSculty  was  that  we  did  not  conceive  "praying" 
purely  enough.  We  can,  no  doubt,  go  through  the 
motions  of  prayer  and  not  be  saved  souls.  Our 
Saviour  tells  us  of  those  who  love  to  pray  on  the 
street  corners  and  in  the  synagogues,  to  be  seen 
of  men.  And  He  tells  us  that  they  have  their 
reward.  Their  purpose  in  praying  is  to  be  seen 
of  men,  and  they  are  seen  of  men.  What  can 
they  ask  more.^  But  when  we  really  pray — we 
are  actually  in  enjoyment  of  communion  with 
God.  And  is  not  communion  with  God  salva- 
tion? The  thing  for  us  to  do  is  to  pray  without 
ceasing;  once  having  come  into  the  presence  of 
God,  never  to  leave  it;  to  abide  in  His  presence 
and  to  live,  steadily,  unbrokenly,  continuously, 
in  the  midst  of  whatever  distractions  or  trials, 
with  and  in  Him.  God  grant  such  a  life  to  every 
one  of  us ! 


SURRENDER  AND   CONSECRATION 

Acts  22:10:— "What  shall  I  do.  Lord?" 

When  Paul  was  stricken  to  the  ground  on  his 
way  to  Damascus  by  the  glory  of  the  risen  Christ, 
bursting  on  him  from  heaven,  he  had  but  two 
questions  to  ask:  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  and  What 
shall  I  do.  Lord?  By  the  first  he  certified  him- 
selt  as  to  the  person  before  whose  majesty  he  lay 
prone;  by  the  second  he  entered  at  once  into  His 
willing  service. 

In  this,  too,  Paul's  conversion  is  typical.  No 
one  can  call  Jesus  Lord  save  by  the  Holy  Ghost; 
but  when  the  Holy  Ghost  has  moved  with  power 
upon  the  soul,  the  amazed  soul  has  but  two  ques- 
tions to  ask:  Who  art  thou,  Lord?  and  What  shall 
I  do,  Lord?  There  is  no  question  in  its  mind  as 
to  the  legitimacy  of  the  authority  claimed,  as  to 
its  extent  and  limitations,  as  to  its  sphere,  as  to 
its  sanction.  He  whose  glory  has  shone  into  the 
heart  is  recognized  at  once  and  unquestioningly  as 
Lord,  and  is  so  addressed  no  less  in  the  first  ques- 
tion than  in  the  second.  Who  art  thou.  Lord? 
is  not  a  demand  for  credentials;  it  is  a  simple  in- 
quiry for  information,  a  cry  of  wondering  adora- 
tion and  worship.     And  it  is,  therefore,  followed 

at  once  with  the  cry  of.  What  shall  I  do,  Lord? 

154 


SURRENDER  AND  CONSECRATION     155 

In  this  latter  question  there  unite  the  two  es- 
sential elements  of  all  religion,  surrender  and  con- 
secration— the  passive  and  active  aspects  of  that 
faith  which  on  the  human  side  is  the  fundamental 
element  of  religion,  as  grace  is  on  God's  side,  when 
deahng  with  sinful  men.  "What  shall  I  do.  Lord? " 
In  that  simple  question,  as  it  trembled  on  the  lips 
of  Paul  lying  prostrate  in  the  presence  of  the 
heavenly  glory,  there  pulsated  all  that  abnegation 
of  self,  that  casting  of  oneself  wholly  on  Christ, 
that  firm  entrusting  of  oneself  in  all  the  future  to 
Him  and  His  guidance, — in  a  word,  the  whole  of  the 
"assensus"  and  "fiducia,"  which  (the  "notitia" 
being  presupposed)  constitute  saving  faith.  And 
saving  faith  wherever  found  is  sure  to  take  this 
position,  perhaps  not  purely — for  what  faith  of 
man  is  absolutely  pure.^ — but  in  direct  propor- 
tion to  its  purity,  its  governing  power  over  the 
life.  Surrender  and  consecration,  we  may  take 
it  then,  are  the  twin  key-notes  of  the  Christian 
life:  "What  shall  I  do,  Lord.^^"  the  one  question 
which  echoes  through  all  the  corridors  of  the  Chris- 
tian heart. 

And  as  our  life  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel  is 
nothing  else  but  one  side  of  our  Christian  life — 
the  flower  and  fruit  of  our  Christian  life — sur- 
render and  consecration  must  be  made  also  its 
notes.  It  is  in  direct  proportion  as  they  are  made 
its  key-notes  that  we  may  hope  for  success  in  our 
ministry;    for   only   in   this   proportion   are   we 


156  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Christ's  ministers  and  not  servitors  of  our  own- 
selves.  Let  us,  then,  approach  this  holy  calling 
in  this  spirit,  the  spirit  of  Paul  before  us  and  of 
every  child  of  Christ  through  all  the  ages.  Let  us 
now  as  we  enter  these  halls  to  begin  or  to  re-begin 
our  preparation  for  the  great  work  before  us,  have 
no  reservations — that  we  will  serve  the  Lord  in 
this  sphere,  but  not  in  that;  that  we  will  serve 
Him  to  this  extent,  but  not  to  that;  that  we  will 
serve  Him  in  this  mode,  but  not  in  that.  Let 
surrender  and  consecration  be  our  watch-words. 
"What  shall  I  do,  Lord.^" — ^let  that  question  be 
the  spirit  of  all  our  lives. 

And  now  let  us  observe  what  is  involved  in  such 
a  spirit.  I  think  we  may  say  this  much  on  even  a 
surface  survey  of  the  matter — (1)  that  there  is  an 
element  of  humility  that  enters  into  it;  (2)  that 
there  is  an  element  of  true  dignity  that  enters 
into  it,  and  (3)  that  there  is  an  element  of  power 
that  enters  into  it.  Humility,  dignity,  power — 
at  least  these  three  things. 

Humility — what  a  difference  in  this  regard  be- 
tween Saul  the  Pharisee  and  Paul  the  Christian! 
Before  his  conversion  Saul  seems  to  have  had  no 
doubt  of  what  he  should  do.  His  fundamental 
characteristics  seem  to  have  been  those  of  the 
type  of  character  which  we  call  masterful.  He 
was  a  man  of  decision,  of  energy;  somewhat  self- 
sufficient,  as  indeed  a  Pharisaic  training  was  apt 
to  make  one;   little  inclined,  one  would  think,  to 


SURRENDER  AND  CONSECRATION     157 

defer  to  the  guidance  of  others.  We  must  guard 
against  supposing  him  to  have  been  a  man  of 
violent  and  wicked  impulses,  as  we  may  be  misled 
into  fancying  by  his  career  as  a  persecutor  and 
his  own  words  of  subsequent  sharp  self -rebuke — 
after  his  eyes  were  opened.  A  man  of  deep  relig- 
ious heart  at  all  times,  set  on  serving  the  Lord, 
his  very  vices  were  but  the  defects  of  his  virtues. 
But  somewhat  headstrong,  opinionated,  undocile, 
perhaps;  bent  on  serving  God  with  a  pure  con- 
science, but  constitutionally  apt  to  go  his  own  way 
in  that  service — for  the  God  of  Israel  had  never 
bidden  him  persecute  the  saints,  and  that  was  an 
outgrowth,  we  may  be  sure,  of  his  habitual  self- 
direction.  What  can  I  do  to  glorify  the  God  of 
Israel — we  may  be  sure  that  he  had  often  asked 
himself  that  very  question — nay,  that  it  was  always 
echoing  through  his  soul  and  was  the  lode-star 
of  all  his  life.  There  was  nothing  small  or  little 
in  Paul's  Pharisaic  life;  no  reserves  in  his  devo- 
tion to  his  ideal,  and  no  shrinking  from  labor,  or 
diflSculty,  or  danger.  Paul  never  was  a  place- 
seeker,  never  was  a  sycophant,  never  was  self- 
indulgent,  or  self-sparing.  The  elements  of  a 
great  character  wrought  in  him  mightily.  What 
he  lacked  was  not  readiness  to  do  and  dare;  what 
he  lacked  was  humility.  And  the  change  that 
took  place  in  him  on  the  road  to  Damascus  was 
in  this  regard  no  less  immense  than  immediate. 
It  was  a  totally  new  note  which  vibrated  through 


158  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

his  being,  that  found  expression  in  the  humble  in- 
quiry, "What  shall  I  do.  Lord?"  It  is  no  longer 
a  question  directed  to  himself:  "What  shall  I 
do? — what  shall  /,  in  my  learning  and  strength 
and  devotion — what  shall  I  do  to  the  glory  of 
God?"  It  is  the  final  and  utter  renunciation  of 
self  and  the  subjection  of  the  whole  life  to  the 
guidance  of  another.  "What  shall  I  do,  Lord?'' 
Heretofore  Paul  had  been,  even  in  his  service  to 
God,  self -led;  hereafter  he  was  to  be,  even  in  the 
common  affairs  of  life,  down  to  his  eating  and 
drinking,  God-led.  It  is  the  characteristic  change 
that  makes  the  Christian;  for  the  Christian  is 
particularly  the  Spirit-led  man :  they  that  are  led 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God. 
And  as  the  Christian  more  and  more  perfectly 
assumes  the  attitude  of  a  constant  and  unre- 
served "What  shall  I  do,  Lord?",  he  more  and 
more  perfectly  enters  into  his  Christian  heritage, 
and  lives  out  his  Christian  life — the  very  key- 
note of  which  is  thus  easily  seen  to  be  humility. 

Dignity — there  is  an  element  of  dignity  which 
enters  into  this  attitude  also.  For  humility  is 
not  to  be  mistaken  for  a  degrading  supineness. 
Lowliness  of  mind  is  far  from  being  the  same  with 
lowness  of  mind.  When  Paul  ceased  to  be  self- 
led  and  became  Christ-led,  he  did  not  by  that  step 
become  low  in  mind  or  morals;  it  was  a  step  up- 
wards, and  not  downwards.  There  is  a  lurking 
feeling  in  most  of  us,  no  doubt,  that  our  dignity 


SURRENDER  AND  CONSECRATION     159 

consists  just  in  our  self-government.  Self-suf- 
ficiency is  its  note,  or,  as  we  perhaps  prefer  to 
call  it,  self-dependence.  That  man  is  really  a 
man,  we  are  prone  to  think,  who  carves  out  his 
own  fortune,  rests  on  his  own  efforts,  and  seeks 
favour  and  certainly  direction  from  no  one.  Now 
there  is  a  proper  basis  for  this  feeling;  we  need 
courageous  men  who  call  no  man  master  and 
swear  in  the  words  of  none;  this  self-centred, 
self-poised,  and  independent  nature  is  one  of  the 
best  gifts  of  God — cultivate  it!  But  it  is  very 
easy  for  a  proper  self-pride  and  a  high-minded  in- 
dependence to  pass  into  a  very  improper  self- 
sufficiency.  We  were  not  intended  to  defer  with 
servile  incapacity  to  any  fellow-creature's  direc- 
tion; but  there  is  a  place  for  authority  in  the 
world  after  all;  and  as  liberty  must  not  be  allowed 
to  lapse  into  licence,  so  independence  must  not  be 
permitted  to  degenerate  into  self-assertion.  God 
did  not  create  mankind  atomistically  but  as  a 
race;  and  it  is  the  part  of  true  dignity  to  find  our 
true  relations  and  to  subject  ourselves  to  them. 
It  is  not  a  mark  of  manhood  to  separate  ourselves 
from  the  bands  that  unite  mankind  into  an  organ- 
ism, but  to  take  each  his  place  in  the  organism 
and  thoroughly  to  fill  it. 

He  who  hitches  his  chariot  to  a  star  is  not 
thereby  sinking  to  a  lower  status.  True  as  this 
is  in  worldly  matters  it  is  superlatively  true  in 
spiritual  aflPairs.     The  man  led  by  the  Spirit   of 


160  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

God — the  Christ-led  man — is  the  man  of  highest, 
and  not  of  lowest,  dignity.  As  it  is  the  mark  of  a 
Christian  man  that  he  is  "under  orders,"  so  it 
is  the  source  of  all  his  dignity  that  he  is  "under 
orders."  With  that  odd .  penetration  into  the 
essence  of  things,  which  so  often  characterizes 
the  words  of  Rudyard  Kipling,  he  seems  to  have 
grasped  and  set  forth  this  fundamental  fact  of  the 
Christian  life  in  the  refrain  of  one  of  his  "Barrack 
Room  Ballads."     He  says: 

"  The  'eathen  in  'is  blindness  bows  down  to  wood  and 
stone — 
'E  don't  obey  no  orders,  unless  they  is  'is  own." 

The  point  is,  of  course,  the  fine  soldierly  concep- 
tion of  the  value  of  order  and  discipline;  the  sol- 
dier recognizes  the  fact  that  he  is  "under  orders" 
as  the  source  of  all  that  gives  value  and  worth  to 
his  life;  his  coming  "under  orders"  was  his  trans- 
mutation from  a  "hoodlum"  into  a  "soldier"; 
the  discipline  of  the  army  has  made,  as  we  say,  a 
man  of  him.  But  Rudyard  Kipling  has  so 
phrased  his  refrain  as  to  make  it  hint  a  far  wider 
and  higher  truth.  The  characteristic  of  heathen- 
ism, as  he  sees  it,  from  this  soldier-like  point  of 
view,  is  precisely  that  the  heathen  man — like  the 
hoodlum, — that  the  heathen  world — like  a  mob — 
obeys  no  orders;  each  man  goes  his  own  way;  is 
left,  as  the  Scriptures  say,  to  his  own  devices. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  characteristic  of  the  Chris- 
tian man  is  that  he  has  orders  to  obey — he  is 


SURRENDER  AND  CONSECRATION     161 

"under  orders."  And  the  soldier,  conscious  of 
all  that  being  under  orders  is  to  him — of  what  it 
has  wrought  in  him — of  how  it  has  given  him 
self-respect,  a  sense  of  his  value,  a  consciousness 
of  dignity  and  worth, — sees  in  this  parallel  fact 
the  essence  of  Christianity.  The  Christian  man 
is  the  man  who  is  under  orders;  the  heathen,  he — 
who  like  the  man  in  the  slums — obeys  nothing  but 
his  own  caprices. 

Rudyard  Kipling  was,  perhaps,  speaking  more 
wisely  than  he  knew;  for  what  is  the  primary 
characteristic  of  Christendom  but  just  this, — that 
God  has  taken  charge  of  it,  given  it  His  orders,  a 
revelation  we  call  it;  while  heathendom  is  with- 
out this  book  of  general  orders.  And  what  is  the 
characteristic  of  the  Christian  man  but  just  this: 
that  he  has  found  his  Captain  and  receives  his 
orders  from  Him?  "What  shall  I  do,  Lord?" — 
that  is  the  note  of  his  life.  And  is  it  not  clear 
that  it  is  the  source  of  an  added  dignity  and  worth 
to  his  life?  Just  as  the  soldier  is  nothing  but  the 
hoodlum  licked  into  shape  by  coming  under  orders 
— under  the  establishing  and  forming  influence  of 
legitimate  and  wise  authority — so  the  Christian  is 
nothing  but  the  sinner,  come  under  the  formative 
influence  of  the  Captain  of  us  all. 

Power — it  lies  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case 
that  such  a  coming  under  orders  is  the  source  of  a 
vast  increase  also  of  power.  For  it  is  at  once  to 
find  our  place  in  a  great  and  powerful  organism. 


162  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

So  the  soldier  finds  it,  though  this  is  not  the 
primary  fact  of  his  betterment  which  he  per- 
ceives as  a  result  of  his  coming  under  orders. 
That,  as  Kipling  rightly  sees,  is  the  subjective 
effect  on  himself,  the  increase  of  self-respect  and 
of  general  dignity  and  conscious  worth  which 
comes  to  him.  But  the  increase  of  power  also  is 
a  factor  of  high  moment.  A  cog  wheel  is  a  use- 
less piece  of  iron  by  itself;  but  in  its  legitimate 
place  in  the  machine  it  works  wonders.  An  in- 
dividual is  as  nothing  in  this  seething  mass  of 
humanity  which  we  call  the  world;  be  he  never 
so  energetic  he  can  work  no  effect,  but  all  his  ac- 
tivity is  like  the  aimless  dashing  of  a  moth  about 
the  destroying  flame.  But  let  him  find  his  true 
place  in  the  organism  of  humanity,  and  the  weak- 
est of  us  becomes  a  factor  in  the  inevitable  rush 
of  the  whole  towards  its  destined  end.  See,  then, 
the  element  of  power  in  the  question,  "What 
shall  I  do.  Lord?"  For  we  must  keep  fully  in 
mind  that  this  human  race  of  which  we  are  mem- 
bers is  not  simply  a  chance  aggregation  of  indi- 
viduals, like  a  mass  of  worms  crawling  restlessly 
this  way  and  that  as  the  native  impulse  of  each 
directs.  It  cannot  be  atomistically  conceived. 
It  is  an  organism,  in  which  each  individual  has 
his  appointed  place  and  function.  It  is  not 
merely  the  dictate  of  wisdom  but  the  condition  of 
eflSciency  and  power  that  we  should  each  find  this, 
our  place,  and  fulfil  our  own  function. 


SURRENDER  AND  CONSECRATION     163 

If  sin  had  never  entered  the  world,  this  would 
doubtless  be  an  easy  task;  we  should  each  fit  well 
into  the  place  in  which  we  find  ourselves  and 
should  fulfil  our  required  functions  smoothly  and 
easily,  and  each  in  his  appointed  measure  advance 
the  race  to  its  destined  goal.     But  sin  has  spoiled 
all;    and  the  disjointed  mechanism  lies  broken 
and  dismantled  and  unable  to  work  at  its  task. 
It  is,  therefore,  that  Christ  Jesus  has  come  into 
the  world,  the  head  of  a  new  humanity,  for  the 
restoration  of  the  race  to  its  harmony  with  itself, 
the  universe,  and  its  appointed  work.     It  is  only 
through  Him  and  through  His  direction  as  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation  that  we  may  discover 
or  occupy  our  place  in  His  Church,  which  is  only 
another  name  for  reorganized  humanity.     There- 
fore the  noble  figure  of  Paul,  which  compares  the 
Church  to  a  body  and  us  to  members  in  particular. 
How  shall  the  members  of  a  body  act?     Each 
going  his  own  way,  independently  of  and  incon- 
siderately of  the  others.^     Where  then  would  be 
the  body.f^     But  how  find  our  true  place  and  task 
in  this  organism  of  the  body  of  Christ.^     There 
can  be  but  one  way  and  that  way  is  pointed  to  by 
Paul's  question,  "What  shall  I  do.  Lord.?"      He 
and  He  only  can  appoint  to  their  functions  the 
members  of  His  body,  and  thus  the  way  of  con- 
tinued humility  and  dignity  is  easily  seen  to  be 
also  the  way  of  power. 

Take  another  example  from  military  affairs. 


164  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

What  shall  the  soldier  in  battle  do,  if  he  would 
wish  to  be  effective  as  a  factor  in  the  result? 
Go  his  own  way,  or  obey  orders?     Let  each  seek 
to  go  his  own  way,  and  that  army  is  doomed. 
But  let  each  only  strictly  obey  orders,  and  if 
the  leading  is  wise  and  sure — as  our  leading  under 
our  Divine  Captain  is — the  end  is  certain  victory. 
Each  soldier  may  seem  to  himself  isolated  as  he 
makes  his  way  through  the  underbrush;    he  can 
see  no  companion;  he  can  hear  no  neighbour.     It 
may  seem  to  him  that  on  his  sole  arm  is  laid  the 
whole  burden  and  heat  of  the  day.     Let  him  but 
obey  orders  and  he  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  link  in 
the  one  great  design,  and  after  a  while,  as  the 
brushwood   is   threaded    and   the   open   plain   is 
reached,  the  bugle  sounds  the  charge,  and  out  he 
charges — all  by  himself — to  find  suddenly  that 
he  is  not  by  himself.     Out  of  the  ground  as  it 
seems,  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  of  him,  others 
start  up — who  have  obeyed  orders  like  himself — 
and  they  sweep  a  united  band  to  the  victory. 
Brethren,  that  is  the  way  we  are  to  conquer  the 
world;   and  our  part  in  it  is  just  to  obey  orders. 
"What  shall  I  do.  Lord?"  is  to  be  our  one  ques- 
tion, and  simple  obedience  to  the  response  our 
one  duty.     Ah,  in  all  our  ministerial  life,  if  we 
value  success — the  success  of  Christ — let  us  make 
Paul's  question  the  one  single,  simple  matter  of 
our  lives.     Let  "Lord,  what  shall  I  do?"  be  our 
sole  chart  for  all  the  journey  of  life. 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL 

Acts  26:18: — "To  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  turn  from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that 
they  may  receive  remission  of  sins  and  an  inheritance  among 
them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  in  me." 

We  are  given  in  the  Book  of  Acts  three  accounts 
of  Paul's  conversion — one  by  Luke  in  the  course 
of  his  history  of  the  advance  of  the  church,  and 
two  from  the  lips  of  the  Apostle  himself  in  ad- 
dresses reported  by  the  historian  in  the  course  of 
his  narrative.  The  account  in  the  apology  which 
the  Apostle  in  chains  made  before  King  Agrippa 
is  the  fullest  account  of  the  three,  and  especially 
in  the  report  it  makes  of  the  words  spoken  by 
Jesus  to  Paul.  We  may  be  especially  grateful 
for  this.  For  these  words  are  simply  marvellous 
in  the  compressed  fullness  of  their  content  and 
the  richness  of  their  teaching  to  us,  even  after 
the  passage  of  so  many  ages. 

The  superior  completeness  here  of  the  narrative 
of  what  passed  between  the  Lord  in  heaven  and 
him  whom  He  would  make  a  chosen  vessel  for  the 
conveyance  of  His  precious  Gospel  to  the  world, 
is  already  apparent  in  certain  preliminaries  to 
the  main  declaration — comparatively  unimportant 
no  doubt,  but  not  without  their  significance. 
Here  only  we  are  told  that  the  ascended  Christ 

165 


166  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

addressed  the  future  Apostle  in  the  Hebrew  dia- 
lect,— the  sacred  tongue  in  which  all  the  prophets 
had  spoken  and  Moses,  when  they  foretold  His 
sufferings  and  how  first  out  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  He  should  proclaim  light  to  the  people 
and  to  the  Gentiles.  Here  only  also  are  we  told 
that  to  the  sad  inquiry,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  perse- 
cutest  thou  me?"  was  added  that  proverbial  say- 
ing, "It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks" 
— intimating  that  like  the  harnessed  ox  he  was 
in  the  hands  of  a  master  who  would  direct  his 
path  whither  He  would,  and  it  was  useless  for  him 
to  strive  against  the  performance  of  the  duties 
which  were  appointed  him.  Better  accept  the 
commission  given  you  and  perform  the  work  of 
the  Lord  assigned  to  you,  with  joy  that  you  are 
chosen  to  serve  the  Lord,  than  to  seek  hopelessly 
to  go  your  own  way. 

But  it  is  not  until  we  reach  the  words  by  which 
Saul  was  commissioned  to  be  the  Lord's  Apostle 
that  the  full  richness  of  this  report  breaks  upon  us. 
* 'Arise  and  stand  upon  thy  feet" — so  the  record 
of  the  words  runs — "for  it  is  for  this  that  I  have 
appeared  to  thee;  to  ordain  thee  as  a  servant  and 
a  witness  both  of  those  things  because  of  which 
thou  hast  seen  me  and  of  those  things  because 
of  which  I  shall  appear  to  thee,  delivering  thee 
from  the  people  and  from  the  nations,  unto  whom 
I  send  thee."  Here  is  Paul's  appointment  to 
the  apostleship.     Was  ever  man  appointed  to  an 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     167 

oflSce  in  a  manner  so  authoritative  or  with  words 
so  decisive?  Christ  comes  from  heaven  itself 
to  make  the  appointment.  The  appointment  is 
to  the  work  of  a  servant,  a  servant  of  Himself. 
The  nature  of  the  service  required  is  that  of  wit- 
ness-bearing; "a  servant  and  a  witness,"  that  is, 
a  servant  whose  service  is  witnessing.  The  mat- 
ter to  be  witnessed  to  is  provided  by  the  appointer: 
"a  witness  of  that  with  respect  to  which  I  shall 
appear  unto  thee."  The  witness  is  to  add  noth- 
ing of  himself  but  to  testify  only  what  he  has 
heard,  what  he  has  seen  with  his  eyes,  what  he 
beheld  and  his  hands  have  handled.  And  as  the 
scope  of  the  testimony  is  thus  set  him  so  also  is 
its  sphere;  it  is  to  be  borne  to  the  "people  and 
the  peoples" — to  Jew  and  Gentile, — unto  whom, 
says  the  voice,  "I  send  you" — with  majestic  em- 
phasis on  the  "I." 

Truly  it  is  to  the  office  of  a  servant  that  Paul 
is  called,  a  servant  with  a  specific  work  to  do  and 
with  specific  instructions  how  to  perform  it.  Thus 
he  was  made  an  "apostle,"  an  apostle  by  the 
same  call  to  the  same  work  which  all  the  apostles 
had  received.  It  is  even  odd  how  perfectly 
Paul's  commission  accords  with  the  very  terms 
given  to  his  fellows:  "Go,  and  make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations  .  .  .  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world."  "The  people  and 
the  Gentiles  unto  whom  I  send  thee" — here  is 
the  universal  commission;   he  is  to  go  to  Jew  and 


168  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Gentile  alike,  to  all  the  world.  "Delivering  thee 
from  the  people  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom 
I  send  thee" — here  is  the  accompanying  promise 
of  "Lo,  I  am  with  thee."  xAnd  note  the  nature 
of  the  apostolic  promise.  It  is  not  that  Paul 
shall  suffer  no  harm  from  Jew  and  Gentile,  that 
he  shall  not  be  hard-bested,  baffled  and  perse- 
cuted. How  could  Paul  the  prisoner  have  re- 
peated such  a  promise  as  that.^^  It  was  that  he 
should  not  be  balked  in  his  witness-bearing  to 
them;  that  through  divine  intervention  he  should 
be  successful  in  performing  his  duty  as  a  servant 
and  witness.  Here,  says  Calvin,  we  see  the 
Divine  hand  instilling  courage  into  His  servant 
for  his  task  by  assuring  him  of  Divinely  given 
success  and  at  the  same  time  forewarning  him  of 
the  cross  he  was  to  bear.  He  shall  need  deliver- 
ance; but  he  shall  have  it. 

What  then  is  the  task  laid  upon  this  servant? 
We  have  it  already  adumbrated  in  the  call.  He  is 
called  to  serve  as  a  witness.  Witness-bearing  is 
his  one  function.  But  in  the  wonderful  words 
which  are  more  particularly  before  us  to-day,  we 
have  it  opened  out  to  us  in  all  its  richness.  I 
send  thee  to  all  peoples,  says  the  heavenly  King, 
in  imposing  upon  him  His  mission:  I  send  thee 
to  all  peoples,  "to  open  their  eyes."  There  we 
have  in  the  briefest  compass  possible,  the  whole 
apostolic  mission.  The  apostles  are  sent  into  a 
world,  blinded  by  sin,  sunk  in  the  darkness  of 


THE  SUM]VL\TION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     169 

soul  that  comes  from  sin,  "to  open  men's  eyes." 
Witness-bearers  as  they  are,  their  duty  corre- 
sponds with  their  equipment:  they  have  received 
of  the  Lord,  let  them  impart  of  what  they  have 
received  to  others.  They  have  only  to  "open 
men's  eyes,"  to  open  them  to  a  clear  vision  of 
their  state,  of  their  danger  and  destiny,  and  of 
the  love  of  God  in  Christ  which  has  provided  a 
reprieve  from  the  danger. 

To  what  end  are  they  to  open  men's  eyes? 
"To  the  end,"  says  the  heavenly  King,  "that  they 
may  turn  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  to  God."  As  the  whole  apostolic 
duty  consists  in  opening  men's  eyes,  so  the  end 
for  which  they  perform  this  duty  consists  wholly 
in  the  "conversion"  of  men;  they  are  to  open 
men's  eyes  to  the  end  that  men  may  "turn" — 
turn  "from  darkness  to  light  and  the  power  of 
Satan  to  God." 

Why  should  they  thus  turn?  The  heavenly 
Xing  condescends  to  explain  even  this  to  us.  It 
is  that  "they  may  receive  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
inheritance  among  the  saints."  Those  who  are 
in  darkness  and  under  the  tyranny  of  Satan, 
having  had  their  eyes  opened  to  their  true  state 
and  the  provision  for  their  relief  made  by  a  lov- 
ing God,  may  turn  from  the  darkness  to  light 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God.  The  con- 
dition of  so  doing  is  to  have  their  eyes  opened. 
This  the  Apostle  was  to  perform.     The  effect  of 


170  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

so  doing  was  to  receive  forgiveness  of  sin  and  a 
lot  among  the  saints.  This  God  was  to  do;  and 
He  alone  could  do  it.  Turning  to  God,  they  re- 
ceive from  God  these  blessings. 

How  then  do  they  receive  them?  The  heav- 
enly King  does  not  omit  to  tell  us  plainly,  though, 
no  doubt,  it  is  involved  in  the  nature  of  the  case. 
If,  by  turning  to  God,  they  receive  from  God 
these  blessings,  it  must  needs  be  by  faith  that 
they  receive  them,  for  what  is  faith  but  a  looking 
to  God  for  blessings  .f^  Nevertheless  the  ascended 
Christ  fails  not  to  state  the  matter  for  us  and  to 
state  it  in  a  manner  and  in  a  position  in  the  sen- 
tence which  throws  upon  it  a  tremendous  em- 
phasis. "By  faith"  He  says;  and  He  says  more, 
— "by  faith  in  Me."  And  there  is  where  the 
Christianity  of  the  declaration  comes  in. 

One  might  be  sent  to  open  men's  eyes  without 
being  a  Christian.  Socrates  was  so  sent;  and  he 
opened  men's  eyes  to  much  that  was  true,  and 
right,  and  good;  and  Sakya  Muni  was  so  sent; 
and  Zoroaster  and  Confucius;  and  since  them  a 
host  have  been  so  sent,  who,  by  their  investiga- 
tions into  nature  or  their  profound  philosophy, 
have  made  men  to  know  things,  and,  let  us  hope, 
have  made  men's  darkness  less  intense — though 
we  must  never  forget  that  the  world  by  all  its 
wisdom  does  not  know  God.  Men  might  be 
even  sent  to  open  men's  eyes  as  to  their  religious 
state — so  that  their  religious  darkness  might  be 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     171 

ameliorated  and  they  be  led  to  see  some  rays  of 
religious  light,  and  to  long  to  be  delivered  from 
the  power  of  Satan  and  to  turn  to  God — without 
being  Christians.  Even  should  we  say  that  we 
are  sent  to  open  men's  eyes  that  they  may  turn 
from  darEness  to  light  and  the  power  of  Satan  to 
Gqd^nd  so  might  obtain  forgiveness  of  sins  and  a 
lot  with  the  sanctified — the  proclamation  might 
remain  not  yet  Christian.  Nor  would  the  mere 
addition  of  the  words  "by  faith"  Christianize  it. 
But  when  we  say  that  all  this  is  obtained  by  faith 
in  Jesus,  and  say  this  as  the  ascended  Jesus  has 
said  it  here — then,  indeed,  we  have  a  Christian 
proclamation,  or  let  us  rather  say,  the  Christian 
proclamation.  For  in  these  words  we  have  the 
very  essence  of  Christianity. 

And  now,  perhaps,  we  shall  be  able  to  under- 
stand why,  ever  since  the  Book  of  Acts  has  been 
written,  men  have  been  accustomed  to  look  upon 
this  little  verse  as  one  of  the  most  pregnant  in  the 
whole  scope  of  revelation,  and  why  they  have 
learned  to  call  it  the  "Breviarium  Apostolicum," 
the  "Summarium  Evangelicum."  It  is  the  com- 
pendium of  apostolic  duty.  It  is  the  summation 
of  the  Gospel.  It  tells  the  Apostle  briefly  that 
his  one  duty  is  to  "open  men's  eyes";  it  tells  the 
world  briefly  that  the  Gospel  consists  in  forgive- 
ness of  sins  and  a  title  to  eternal  life  through  faith 
in  Jesus.  Out  of  one  and  out  of  the  other  it  ex- 
tracts the  core  and  holds  that  up  to  us  for  our  un- 


172  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

distracted  contemplation.     As  such  it  surely  is 
worthy  of  our  most  serious  consideration. 

There  is  another  circumstance  about  it  which 
gives  it  an  especial  claim  on  our  attention.  These 
are  the  words  of  the  ascended  Christ.  Men 
to-day  seem  to  find  it  very  difficult  to  discern  an 
authority  in  religion.  Surely  we  cannot  trust 
the  mere  "ipse  dixit"  of  men  in  the  affair  of  the 
salvation  of  the  soul !  Let  us  find  firm  footing  for 
our  feet !  And  so  the  cry  has  risen,  Back  to  Christ ! 
Back  even  from  the  apostles  whom  He  commis- 
sioned to  make  Him  known  to  men;  back  to 
Christ  Himself!  But  when  we  go  back  to  Christ, 
a  new  doubt  seizes  the  wavering  soul.  Was  not 
Christ,  too,  in  the  time  of  His  sojourn  on  earth, 
a  man?  Mayhap — so  it  is  suggested — mayhap 
He  not  only  walked  as  a  man  and  spake  as  a  man, 
but  thought  as  a  man  and  taught  as  a  man.  Can 
we  trust  even  His  deliberate  declarations  in  the 
days  of  His  flesh?  Well,  if  we  are  earnest  in  all 
this,  we  may  find  relief  for  our  souls  in  a  passage 
like  the  one  before  us.  In  it  we  have  gone  back 
to  Christ.  It  is  He  who  speaks  these  words  to  us. 
And  we  have  gone  back,  not  to  the  earthly  Christ 
but  to  the  heavenly  Christ.  It  is  not  the  Christ 
in  His  humiliation  but  the  Christ  in  His  glori- 
fication who  here  speaks  to  us.  He  has  put  off 
the  Servant-form,  and  been  exalted  to  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  High;  and  He  rends  the 
heaven  to  give  to  men  from  the  very  Throne,  this 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     173 

"Breviarium  Apostolicum,"  this  "Summarium 
Evangelicum."  It  may,  indeed,  be  that  Hke  an 
Old  Testament  hero  we  are  ourselves  unstable  as 
water — "like  the  surge  of  the  sea  driven  of  the 
wind  and  tossed" — and  cannot  feel  our  footing 
firm  though  the  Eternal  Rock  be  beneath  our 
feet.  But  surely  if  we  are  earnestly  in  search  of  a 
secure  basis  for  our  faith,  the  word  spoken  from 
heaven  by  the  exalted  Christ  supplies  it  to  us; 
making  known  to  us  what  the  duty  of  the  Apostle, 
and  of  us,  too,  the  successors  of  the  Apostles  in 
witnessing  to  the  Word,  is,  and  what  the  Gospel 
is  to  which  as  Christ's  messengers  we  are  to  bear 
witness. 

Approaching  the  passage  in  this  spirit,  let  us 
mark  well  the  supreme  lessons  it  brings  to  us,  as 
messengers  of  the  grace  of  God  in  the  Gospel — as 
seekers  of  the  salvation  that  is  in  Jesus. 

Mark,  then,  first  of  all,  the  function  which  the 
Ascended  Jesus  assigns  to  His  witnessing  servants. 
It  is  summed  up  in  a  single  term — it  is  "to  open 
men's  eyes."  Now,  of  course,  the  eye  of  the 
heart  can  be  opened  only  by  the  Spirit  of  God; 
and  it  is  not  this  unperformable  duty  which 
Christ  lays  on  His  servants.  But  the  eyes  of 
the  mind  are  opened,  in  a  lower  sense,  by  the  pres- 
entation of  the  truth  and  it  is  this  that  the  Lord 
requires  of  His  servants.  They  are  "witnesses"; 
their  duty  is  not  to  tickle  men's  ears  or  to  allay 
their  fears;    their  duty  is  to  make  known  the 


174  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

truth,  though  it  is  precisely  the  truth  that  is  not 
agreeable  to  their  ears  and  that  arouses  and 
gives  leash  to  their  most  terrifying  fears.  What 
men  need  is  to  have  their  eyes  opened,  and  the 
duty  laid  on  Paul  and  on  all  who  would  be  fol- 
lowers of  Paul  is  to  open  men's  eyes.  That  it 
was  in  this  sense  that  Paul  understood  his  com- 
mission is  obvious  from  the  succeeding  context. 
He  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  he 
tells  the  king,  but  having  been  sent  to  open  men's 
eyes,  that  they  might  turn  to  God,  he  preached 
the  Gospel  of  repentance  and  turning  to  God, 
bearing  his  witness  to  small  and  great  alike.  So 
will  we,  too,  fulfil  our  commission  as  messengers 
of  God's  grace.  We  owe,  as  ministers,  a  teaching 
duty  and  our  prime  duty — our  one  duty — is  to 
teach :  we  must  open  men's  eyes. 

We  must  not  fail  to  mark  the  honour  which  is 
thus  put  by  the  Ascended  Jesus  on  what  we  have 
learned  to  call  by  way  of  eminence,  the  Truth, — 
or,  the  Gospel  message.  Everything  is  made  to 
turn  on  that.  It  lies  at  the  root  of  all.  The 
Apostle's  duty  is  to  open  men's  eyes.  Whatever 
of  salvation  may  come  to  men  comes  subsequently 
to  that  and  as  an  outgrowth  of  this  root.  "Truth 
is  in  order  to  godliness" — that  is  a  true  formula. 
But  it  must  not  be  read — should  we  wish  to  re- 
main in  harmony  with  the  Ascended  Christ — as 
a  depreciation  of  the  value  of  "truth"  and 
"knowledge"    (its   subjective  form),   but   as   an 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     175 

enhancement  of  their  importance.  Truth  exists 
only  to  produce  godliness;  that  is  true  and  needs 
to  be  kept  constantly  in  mind.  But  no  truth,  no 
godliness, — that,  too,  is  true  and  that,  too,  needs 
to  be  kept  fully  in  mind.  The  only  instrument 
in  your  hands  or  my  hands  for  producing  godli- 
ness is  the  truth;  we  are  not  primarily  anything 
else  but  witnesses  to  truth;  and  the  truth  of  God 
is  the  one  lever  by  which  we  can  pry  at  the  hearts 
of  men.  Preach  the  Word;  that  is  our  one  com- 
mission. And  it  is  no  more  true  that  the  Word 
cannot  be  preached  without  a  preacher,  than  that 
the  preacher  cannot  preach  without  a  Word. 
Men  are  in  darkness,  they  need  light,  and  we  are 
sent  to  give  it  to  them. 

It  is  equally  important  to  observe  that  the  im- 
plication of  our  Ascended  Saviour's  words  of 
commission  as  to  the  condition  of  men,  is  that 
they  are  in  darkness.  That  is  the  reason  why 
they  require  to  have  their  eyes  opened.  In  what 
darkness  let  the  Apostle  who  received  the  com- 
mission elsewhere  tell  us.  As  to  the  Gentiles,  he 
tells  us  sufficiently  in  the  first  chapter  of  Romans; 
they  have  held  back  the  knowledge  of  God  in  un- 
godliness until  their  foolish  mind  is  darkened  and 
they  cannot  know  God;  and  under  what  bondage 
to  Satan  this  has  brought  them,  let  the  cata- 
logue of  evils  with  which  that  chapter  closes  in- 
form us.  Nor  are  the  Jews  in  better  case:  for  a 
Veil  lies  on  their  hearts  also  which  will  not  be 


176  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

taken  away  except  on  turning  unto  the  Lord. 
The  dense  darkness  in  which  men  live,  the  terrible 
bondage  into  which  they  have  been  brought;  this 
is  part  of  the  revelation  of  the  Ascended  Saviour, 
connected  with  which  is  the  necessary  implication 
of  their  hopelessness  apart  from  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel.  The  appointed  means  of  breaking 
this  darkness  is  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel 
by  which  alone  can  men's  eyes  be  opened. 

As  it  is  the  single  duty  laid  by  the  Ascended 
Christ  on  His  messengers  that  they  shall  open 
men's  eyes,  the  single  duty  He  lays  on  their 
hearers  is  correspondingly  that  they  should  turn 
from  the  darkness  to  the  light,  and  (what  is  the 
same  thing)  from  the  power  of  Satan  to  God. 
It  is,  of  course,  as  evident  that  men  cannot  turn 
from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  tyranny  of  Satan 
to  God,  in  their  own  strength,  as  it  is  that  men 
cannot  open  other  people's  eyes  by  their  own 
power.  As  in  the  one  case,  so  in  the  other,  the 
immanent  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  excluded 
because  it  is  not  mentioned.  But  as  in  the  one 
case,  so  in  the  other,  the  action  of  man  is  required. 
Christ  requires  His  apostle  to  "open  men's  eyes" 
— that  is,  to  proclaim  the  truth  which  opens  their 
eyes.  Christ  requires  their  hearers  to  turn  from 
the  darkness  to  the  light,  to  shake  off  their  bond- 
age to  Satan  and  turn  to  God.  In  both  cases.  He 
requires  the  "sowing"  and  "watering,"  while  it  is 
He  alone  who  gives  the  increase.     What  we  need 


THE  SUMMATION  OF  THE  GOSPEL     177 

to  mark  is  that  in  this  we  have  the  one  require- 
ment of  the  Gospel.  All  that  the  ascended  Christ 
demands  is  that  when  the  light  is  brought  to  the 
eye  the  eye  shall  follow  the  light;  that  when  the 
darkness  is  made  visible  to  it  as  darkness,  it 
shall  not  cling  to  the  darkness  by  preference;  that 
when  Satan  and  God  are  set  before  it,  it  shall  not 
choose  Satan's  bondage  rather  than  the  liberty 
which  is  in  God. 

Let  us  mark  now  the  declaration  made  by  the 
Ascended  Christ  of  the  benefits  received  from  the 
Gospel.  Those  who  under  the  message  turn  from 
Satan  to  God  receive  "remission  of  sins  and  a 
share  with  the  sanctified,"  and  that  is  to  say,  they 
receive  a  complete  salvation.  For  what  does  man 
want  in  this  world  of  darkness  and  subjection  to 
Satan.f^  What  but,  on  the  one  hand,  remission  of 
the  sins  by  virtue  of  which  alone  he  can  be  held 
under  Satan's  tyranny,  and,  on  the  other,  a  title  to 
the  bliss  prepared  for  the  saints.^  Here  are  the  two 
sides  of  what  is  technically  termed  Justification, 
proclaimed  as  the  essence  of  salvation  from  heaven 
itself.  Freedom  from  sin — that  is  the  negative 
side;  an  inheritance  among  the  saints — that  is 
the  positive  side.  Saints  may  have  an  inherit- 
ance— a  lot  or  share — in  bliss  on  their  own  ac- 
count. But  surely  a  sinner  has  no  right  to  share 
it  with  them.  Not  even  if  his  sins  be  forgiven 
him  has  he  a  right  to  share  it.  Enough  for  him 
that  his  sins  are  forgiven.     On  what  ground  shall 


178  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

he  receive  so  great  an  additional  reward?  But 
the  Gospel  offers  him  not  only  relief  from  the 
penalty  of  sin  but  a  place  among  those  who  are 
sanctified.  "Who  have  been  sanctified" — that 
he  cannot  yet  say  of  himself.  But  by  God's 
grace  he  has  a  title  to  a  place  among  those  who 
can  say  it.  Holy  angels  and  sanctified  men — 
they  stand  before  God's  face  forever. 

Nor  must  we  fail  to  mark  the  emphatic  ad- 
junction of  the  means  by  which  they  receive  these 
gifts — the  instrumental  cause  of  their  reception 
of  them.  The  Ascended  Jesus  says  it  is  by  faith, 
and  adjoins  the  emphasized  definition — "that 
faith  which  is  in  Him."  Thus  the  whole  procla- 
mation is  bound  together.  Paul  is  to  be  Christ's 
witness.  What  he  is  to  preach  is  what  he  has 
seen  of  Him  and  is  to  see  of  Him.  It  is  Christ 
that  is  preached.  It  is  the  preaching  of  Christ 
which  is  to  open  blind  eyes  and  lead  men  to  turn 
to  God.  It  is,  therefore,  through  faith  in  this 
preachment  of  Christ  that  men  are  to  receive  for- 
giveness and  adoption;  through  faith  in  the  Christ 
preached  that  all  the  reward  comes.  Surely  here 
is  the  centre  of  the  Gospel.  Ministers  are  sent 
forth  to  open  men's  eyes;  men's  eyes  are  opened 
that  they  may  turn  to  God;  men  turn  to  God  to 
receive  forgiveness  and  acceptance;  men  receive 
this  forgiveness  and  acceptance  by  faith — the 
faith  that  is  in  Christ. 


THE  SPIRIT'S  TESTIMONY  TO  OUR 
SONSHIP 

Rom.  8:16: — "The  Spirit  himself  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God." 

"The  Spirit  himself  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God."  This  is  one 
of  the  texts  of  the  Bible  to  which  the  Christian 
heart  turns  with  especial  longing  and  to  which 
it  clings  with  especial  delight.  On  it  has  been 
erected  the  great  Protestant  doctrine  of  Assur- 
ance— the  great  doctrine  that  every  Christian 
man  may  and  should  be  assured  that  He  is  a 
child  of  God — that  it  is  possible  for  him  to  attain 
this  assurance  and  that  to  seek  and  find  it  is 
accordingly  his  duty.  So  much  as  that  it  cer- 
tainly, along  with  kindred  texts,  does  establish. 
The  Holy  Spirit  Himself,  it  affirms,  bears  witness 
with  our  spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God;  and 
then  it  goes  on  to  develop  the  idea  of  childship  to 
God  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  benefits  it 
contains — "and  if  children  then  heirs,  heirs  of 
God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ." 

It  is  quite  obvious  that  the  object  of  the  whole 
is  to  encourage  and  enhearten;  to  speak,  in  a 
word,  to  the  Christian's  soul  a  great  word  of 
confidence.     We  are  not  to  be  left  in  doubt  and 

179 


180  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

gloom  as  to  our  Christian  hope  and  standing.  A 
witness  is  adduced  and  this  no  less  a  witness  than 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  author  of  all  truth.  We  are 
not  committed  to  our  own  tentative  conjectures; 
or  to  our  own  imaginations  and  fancies.  The 
Holy  Spirit  bears  co-witness  with  our  spirit  that 
we  are  God's  children.  Surely,  here  there  is  firm 
standing  ground  for  the  most  timid  feet. 

No  wonder  that  men  have  seized  hold  of  such 
an  assurance  with  avidity,  and  sought  and  found 
in  it  peace  from  troubled  consciences  and  hesi- 
tating fears.  No  wonder  either  if  they  have  some- 
times, in  their  eagerness  for  a  sure  foundation  for 
their  hope,  pressed  a  shade  beyond  the  mark  and 
sought  on  the  basis  of  this  text  an  assurance  from 
the  Holy  Ghost  for  a  fact  of  which  they  had  no 
other  evidence,  if,  indeed,  they  did  not  feel  that 
they  had  evidence  enough  against  it;  an  assur- 
ance conveyed,  moreover,  in  a  mode  that  would  be 
independent  of  all  other  evidence,  if,  indeed,  it 
did  not  bear  down  and  set  aside  abundant  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary.  This  occasional  use  of 
the  text  to  ground  an  assurance  which  seems  to 
the  observer  unjustified  if  not  positively  negatived 
by  all  appearances,  has  naturally  created  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  hesitation  in  appealing  to  it  at  all 
or  in  seeking  to  attain  the  gracious  state  of  as- 
surance which  it  promises.  This  is  a  most  un- 
profitable state  of  affairs.  And  in  its  presence 
among  us,  no  less  than  in  the  presence  of  a  some- 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  181 

what  exaggerated  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  the 
Spirit,  we  may  find  the  best  of  warrants  for  seek- 
ing to  understand  just  what  the  text  affirms  and 
just  what  privileges  it  holds  out  to  us. 

And  here,  first,  the  text  leaves  no  room  for 
doubt  that  the  testimony  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  we  are  God's  children  is  a  great  reality.  This 
is  not  a  matter  of  inference  from  the  text;  it  is 
expressed  by  it  in  totidem  verbis.  Exactly  what  is 
affirmed  is  that  "the  Spirit  himself  beareth  wit- 
ness with  our  spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God." 
The  actuality  of  the  Spirit's  testimony  to  our 
childship  to  God  is  established,  then,  beyond  all 
cavil;  it  is  entrenched  in  the  same  indeclinable 
authority  by  which  we  are  assured  that  there  is  a 
Spirit  at  all,  that  there  is  any  such  thing  as  an 
adoption  into  sonship  to  God,  or  that  it  is  possible 
for  sinful  mortals  to  receive  that  adoption, — the 
authority  of  the  inspired  word  of  God.  That  the 
Spirit  witnesses  with  or  to  our  spirits  that  we  are 
children  of  God  is  just  as  certain,  then,  as  that 
there  is  such  a  state  as  sonship  to  which  we  may 
be  introduced  or  that  there  is  such  a  being  as  the 
Spirit  of  God  to  bear  witness  of  it.  These  great 
facts  all  stand  or  fall  together.  And  that  is  as 
much  as  to  say  that  no  Christian  man  can  doubt 
the  fact  of  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  that  we  are 
children  of  God.  It  is  accredited  to  him  by  the 
same  authority  which  accredits  all  that  enters 
into  the  very  essence  of  Christianity.     It  is  in 


182  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fact  one  of  the  elements  of  a  full  system  of  Chris- 
tian truth  that  must  be  acknowledged  by  all  who 
accept  the  system  of  Christian  truth. 

It  would  seem  to  be  equally  clear  from  the  text 
that  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  is  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  testimony  of  our  own  conscious- 
ness. However  the  text  be  read,  the  "Spirit  of 
God"  and  "our  spirit"  are  brought  into  pointed 
contrast  in  it,  and  are  emphatically  distinguished 
from  one  another.  Accordingly,  not  only  does 
H.  A.  W.  Meyer,  who  understands  the  text  of  the 
joint  testimony  of  the  Divine  and  human  spirits, 
say:  "Paul  distinguishes  from  the  subjective 
self-consciousness,  I  am  the  child  of  God,  the 
therewith  accordant  testimony  of  the  objective 
Holy  Spirit,  Thou  art  the  child  of  God";  but 
Henry  Alford  also,  who  understands  the  text  to 
speak  solely  of  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit,  borne 
not  with  but  to  our  spirit,  remarks:  "All  are 
agreed,  and  indeed  the  verse  is  decisive  for  it,  that 
it  is  something  separate  from  and  higher  than  all 
subjective  conclusions" — language  which  seems, 
indeed,  scarcely  exact,  but  which  is  certainly  to 
the  present  point.  It  is  of  no  importance  for 
this  whether  Paul  says  that  the  Spirit  bears  wit- 
ness with  or  to  our  spirit;  in  either  case  he  dis- 
tinctly distinguishes  the  Spirit  of  God  from  our 
spirit  along  with  which  or  to  which  it  bears  its 
witness.  And  not  only  so  but  this  distinction  is 
the  very  nerve  of  the  whole  statement;  the  scope 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  183 

of  which  is  nothing  other  than  to  give  the  Chris- 
tian, along  with  his  human  conclusions,  also  a 
Divine  witness. 

Not  only,  then,  is  the  distinction,  here  emphat- 
ically instituted,  available,  as  Meyer  reminds  us, 
as  a  clear  dictum  probans  against  all  pantheistic 
confusion  of  the  Divine  and  human  spirits  in 
general,  and  all  mystical  confusion  and  inter- 
smelting  of  the  Divine  and  human  spirits  in  the 
Christian  man,  as  if  the  regenerated  spirit  was 
something  more  than  a  human  spirit,  or  was  in 
some  way  interpenetrated  and  divinitized  by  the 
Divine  Spirit;  but  it  is  equally  decisive  against 
identifying  out  of  hand  the  testimony  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  here  spoken  of  with  the  testimony  of 
our  own  consciousness.  These  are  different  things 
not  only  distinguishable  but  to  be  distinguished. 
The  witness  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  something  other 
than,  additional  to,  and  more  than  the  witness  of 
our  own  spirit;  and  it  is  adduced  here,  just  be- 
cause it  is  something  other  than,  additional  to, 
and'more  than  the  witness  of  our  own  spirit.  The 
whole  sense  of  Paul's  declaration  is  that  we  have 
over  and  beyond  our  own  authority  ,a  Divine 
witness  to  our  childship  to  God,  on  which  we  may 
rest  without  fear  that  we  shall  be  put  to  shame. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  dis- 
tinctness in  the  source  of  this  testimony  from  that 
of  our  own  consciousness  is  not  the  same  as  sepa- 
rateness  from  it  in  its  delivery.  Paul  would  seem, 


184  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

indeed,  while  thus  strongly  emphasizing  its  dis- 
tinct source — namely,  the  Divine  Spirit — never- 
theless to  suggest  its  conjunction  with  the  testi- 
mony of  our  own  spirit  in  its  actual  delivery.  This, 
indeed,  he  would  seem  frankly  to  assert,  if,  as 
seems  most  natural,  we  are  to  understand  the 
preposition  in  the  phrase  "beareth  testimony 
with,"  to  refer  to  our  spirit,  and  are  to  translate 
with  our  English  version,  "The  Spirit  itself  bear- 
eth  witness  with  our  spirit."  So  taken,  the  con- 
junction is  as  emphatic  as  the  distinction.  It 
must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  some 
commentators  prefer  to  take  "our  spirit"  as  the 
object  to  which  the  testimony  is  borne:  "the 
Spirit  beareth  witness  to  our  spirit" — in  which 
case  the  emphasis  on  the  conjunction  of  the  tes- 
timony of  the  Spirit  of  God  with  that  of  our  spirit 
may  be  lost.  I  say,  may  be  lost:  for  even  then 
the  preposition  in  the  verb  will  need  to  be  ac- 
counted for;  and  it  would  seem  to  be  still  best 
to  account  for  it  by  referring  it  to  our  spirit — 
"the  Spirit  itself  beareth  its  consentient  witness 
to  our  spirit,"  its  witness  consenting  to  our  spirit's 
witness.  And  I  say  merely  that  the  emphasis 
on  the  conjunction  may  be  lost;  for  even  if  this 
interpretation  be  rejected  and  the  force  of  the 
preposition  be  found  merely  in  the  accordance  of 
the  witness  with  the  fact,  by  which  it  is  the  truth 
and  trustworthiness  of  the  testimony  alone  which 
is  emphasized;  nevertheless  the  connection  of  the 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  185 

verse  with  the  preceding  one  is  still  implicative  of 
the  conjoined  witness  of  the  two  spirits.  For  it 
is  in  our  crying  "Abba,  Father,"  that  the  wit- 
ness of  the  Spirit  of  God  is  here  primarily  found — 
the  relation  of  this  verse  to  the  preceding  being 
practically  the  same  as  if  it  were  expressed  in  the 
genitive  absolute — thus:  "the  Spirit  which  we 
received  was  the  Spirit  of  adoption  whereby  we 
cry  Abba,  Father,— the  Spirit  Himself  testifying 
thus  to  our  spirit  that  we  are  children  of  God." 

The  fact  that  the  conjunction  of  the  two  wit- 
nesses thus  dominates  the  passage,  however  its 
special  terms  are  explained,  adds  a  powerful  reason 
for  following  the  natural  interpretation  of  the 
terms  themselves  and  referring  the  preposition 
"with"  directly  to  the  "our  spirit."  It  is  with 
considerable  confidence,  therefore,  that  we  may 
understand  Paul  to  say  that  "the  Spirit  himself 
beareth  witness  together  with  our  spirit  that  we 
are  children  of  God,"  and  thus  not  merely  to  imply 
or  assert — as  in  any  case  is  the  fact — but  pointedly 
to'emphasize  the  conjunction,  or,  if  you  will,  the 
confluence  of  the  Divine  testimony  with  that  of 
the  human  consciousness  itself.  Distinct  in  its 
source,  it  is  yet  delivered  confluently  with  the 
testimony  of  our  human  consciousness.  To  be 
distinguished  from  it  as  something  other  than, 
additional  to,  and  more  than  the  testimony  of  our 
human  consciousness,  it  is  yet  not  to  be  separated 
from  it  as  delivered  apart  from  it,  out  of  connec- 


186  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tion  with  it,  much  less,  in  opposition  or  contra- 
diction to  it.  "The  Spirit  of  God,"  says  that 
brilUant  young  thinker  whose  powers  were  the 
wonder,  as  well  as  the  dependence,  of  the  West- 
minster Divines,  "is  not  simply  a  martyr — a  wit- 
ness— but  co-martyr — qui  simul  testimonium  dicit 
— he  bears  witness  not  only  to  but  with  our  spirit; 
that  is,  with  our  conscience.  So  that  if  the  wit- 
ness of  our  conscience  be  blank,  and  can  testify 
nothing  of  sincerity,  hatred  of  sin,  love  to  the 
brethren,  or  the  like,  then  the  Spirit  of  God  wit- 
nesses no  peace  nor  comfort  to  that  soul;  and  the 
voice  that  speaketh  peace  to  a  person  who  hath 
no  gracious  mark  or  qualification  in  him,  doth  not 
speak  according  to  the  Word,  but  contrary  to 
the  Word,  and  is,  therefore,  a  spirit  of  delusion." 
— "So  that  in  the  business  of  assurance  and  full 
persuasion,  the  evidence  of  graces  and  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Spirit  are  two  concurrent  causes  or 
helps,  both  of  them  necessary.  Without  the  evi- 
dence of  graces,  it  is  not  a  safe  nor  a  well-grounded 
assurance;  without  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit, 
it  is  not  a  plerophory  or  full  assurance."  And 
then  he  devoutly  adds:  "Therefore,  let  no  man 
divide  the  things  which  God  hath  joined  to- 
gether." 

These  remarks  of  George  Gillespie's  will  al- 
ready suggest  to  us  the  function  of  this  testimony 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  set  forth  by  Paul  as  a  co- 
testimony  with  the  witness  of  our  own  spirit.    It 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  187 

is  not  intended  as  a  substitute  for  the  testimony 
of  our  spirit — or,  to  be  more  precise,  of  "signs 
and  marks" — but  as  an  enhancement  of  it.  Its 
object  is  not  to  assure  a  man  who  has  "no  signs" 
that  he  is  a  child  of  God,  but  to  assure  him  who 
has  "signs,"  but  is  too  timid  to  draw  so  great  an 
inference  from  so  small  a  premise,  that  he  is  a 
child  of  God  and  to  give  him  thus  not  merely  a 
human  but  a  Divine  basis  for  his  assurance.  It 
is,  in  a  word,  not  a  substitute  for  the  proper  evi- 
dence of  our  childship;  but  a  Divine  enhance- 
ment of  that  evidence.  A  man  who.  has  none  of 
the  marks  of  a  Christian  is  not  entitled  to  believe 
himself  to  be  a  Christian;  only  those  who  are 
being  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  are  children  of  God. 
But  a  man  who  has  all  the  marks  of  being  a  Chris- 
tian may  fall  short  of  his  privilege  of  assurance. 
It  is  to  such  that  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  is  super- 
added, not  to  take  the  place  of  the  evidence  of 
"signs,"  but  to  enhance  their  effect  and  raise  it  to 
a  higher  plane;  not  to  produce  an  irrational,  un- 
justified, conviction,  but  to  produce  a  higher  and 
more  stable  conviction  than  he  would  be,  all  un- 
aided, able  to  draw;  not  to  supply  the  lack  of 
evidence,  but  to  cure  a  disease  of  the  mind  which 
will  not  profit  fully  by  the  evidence. 

We  are  here  in  the  presence  of  a  question  which 
has  divided  the  suffrages  of  Christian  men  from  the 
beginning.  The  controversy  has  raged  in  every 
age,  whether  our  assurance  of  our  salvation  is  to 


188  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

be  syllogistically  determined  thus :  the  promise  of 
God  is  sure  to  those  who  believe  and  obey  the 
Gospel;  I  believe  and  obey  the  Gospel;  hence 
I  am  a  child  of  God :  or  is  rather  to  be  mystically 
determined  by  the  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  the  heart.  Whether  we  are  to  examine  our- 
selves for  signs  that  we  are  in  the  faith,  or,  neg- 
lecting all  signs,  are  to  depend  on  the  immediate 
whisper  of  the  Spirit  to  our  heart,  "Thou  art  a 
child  of  God."  The  debate  has  been  as  fruitless 
as  it  has  been  endless.  And  the  reason  is  that  it  is 
founded  on  a  false  antithesis,  and,  being  founded 
on  a  false  antithesis,  each  side  has  had  something 
of  truth  to  which  it  was  justified  in  clinging  in  the 
face  of  all  refutation,  and  something  of  error  which 
afforded  an  easy  mark  for  the  arrows  of  its  op- 
ponents. The  victory  can  never  be  with  those 
who  contend  that  we  must  depend  for  our  assur- 
ance wholly  on  the  marks  and  signs  of  true  faith; 
for  true  assurance  can  never  arise  in  the  heart  save 
by  the  immediate  witness  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
he  w^ho  looks  not  for  that  can  never  go  beyond  a 
probable  hope  of  being  in  Christ.  The  victory 
can  never  be  with  those  who  counsel  us  to  neglect 
all  signs  and  depend  on  the  testimony  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  alone;  for  the  Holy  Spirit  does  not  deliver 
His  testimony  save  through  and  in  confluence 
with  the  testimony  of  our  own  consciences  that 
we  are  God's  children.  "All  thy  marks,"  says 
Gillespie  with  point,  "will  leave  thee  in  the  dark,  if 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  189 

the  Spirit  of  Grace  do  not  open  thine  eyes  that 
thou  mayest  know  the  things  which  are  freely 
given  thee  of  God";  and  again  with  equal  point, 
**To  make  no  trial  by  marks  and  to  trust  an  in- 
ward testimony,  under  the  notion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost's  testimony,  when  it  is  without  the  least 
evidence  of  any  true  gracious  mark  ...  is  a 
deluding  and  an  ensnaring  of  the  conscience." 

It  is  obvious  that  the  really  cardinal  question 
here,  therefore,  concerns  not  the  fact  of  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  its  value  or  even  its 
necessity  for  the  forming  of  a  true  assurance,  but 
the  mode  of  its  delivery.  It  is  important,  there- 
fore, to  interrogate  our  text  upon  this  point.  The 
single  verse  before  us  does  not  speak  very  decis- 
ively to  the  matter;  only  by  its  conjunction  of  the 
testimony  of  the  Spirit  with  that  of  our  own  spirit 
does  it  suggest  an  answer.  But  nowhere  than  in 
these  more  recondite  doctrines  is  it  more  neces- 
sary to  read  our  texts  in  their  contexts;  and  the 
setting  of  our  text  is  very  far  from  being  without 
a  message  to  us  in  these  premises.  For  how  does 
Paul  introduce  this  great  assertion.^  .As  already 
remarked,  as  practically  a  subordinate  clause  to 
the  preceding  verse,  with  the  virtual  effect  of  a 
genitive  absolute.  He  had  painted  in  the  seventh 
chapter  the  dreadful  conflict  between  indwelling 
sin  and  the  intruded  principle  of  holiness  which 
springs  up  in  every  Christian's  breast.  And  he 
had  pointed  to  the  very  fact  of  this  conflict  as  a 


190  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

banner  of  hope.  For  he  identifies  the  fact  of  the 
conflict  with  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  work- 
ing in  the  soul;  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  earnest  of  victory.  The  Spirit  would 
not  be  found  in  a  soul  which  was  not  purchased 
for  God  and  in  process  of  fitting  for  the  heavenly 
Kingdom.  Let  no  one  talk  of  living  on  the  low 
plane  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans.  Low 
plane,  indeed!  It  is  a  low  plane  where  there  is 
no  confiict.  Where  there  is  conflict — with  the 
Spirit  of  God  as  one  party  in  the  battle — there  is 
progressive  advance  towards  the  perfection  of 
Christian  life.  So  Paul  treats  it.  He  points  to 
the  conflict  as  indicative  of  the  presence  of  the 
Spirit;  he  points  to  the  presence  of  the  Spirit 
as  the  earnest  of  victory;  and  on  this  experi- 
ence he  foimds  his  promise  of  eternal  bhss. 
Then  comes  our  passage,  introduced  with  one 
of  his  tremendous  "therefores."  "Accordingly, 
then,  brethren," — since  the  Holy  Spirit  is  in  you 
and  the  end  is  sure, — "accordingly,  then,  we  are 
debtors  not  to  the  flesh  to  live  after  the  flesh,  but 
to  the  Spirit  to  live  after  the  Spirit.  .  .  .  For  as 
many  as  are  being  led"  (notice  the  progressive 
present)  "by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are  sons  of 
God,  for"  (after  all),  "the  spirit  that  ye  received 
was  not  a  spirit  of  bondage,  but  a  spirit  of  adop- 
tion, whereby  we  cry  Abba,  Father, — the  Spirit 
Himself  bearing  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we 
are   children   of   God."     "The   Spirit   Himself" 


ASSURANCE  OF  SONSHIP  191 

bearing  this  witness?  When?  How?  Why,  of 
course,  in  this  very  cry  framed  by  Him  in  our 
souls,  "Abba,  Father!"  Not  a  separate  wit- 
ness; but  just  this  witness  and  no  other.  The 
witness  of  the  Spirit,  then,  is  to  be  found  in  His 
hidden  ministrations  by  which  the  filial  spirit  is 
created  in  our  hearts,  and  comes  to  birth  in  this 
joyful  cry. 

We  must  not  fancy,  however,  that,  therefore, 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  adds  nothing  to  the  syl- 
logistic way  of  concluding  that  we  are  children  of 
God.  It  does  not  add  another  way  of  reaching 
this  conclusion,  but  it  does  add  strength  of  con- 
clusion to  this  way.  The  Spirit  is  the  spirit  of 
truth  and  will  not  witness  that  he  is  a  child  of 
God  who  is  not  one.  But  he  who  really  is  a  child 
of  God  will  necessarily  possess  marks  and  signs 
of  being  so.  The  Spirit  makes  all  these  marks  and 
signs  valid  and  available  for  a  true  conclusion — 
and  leads  the  heart  and  mind  to  this  true  con- 
clusion. He  does  not  operate  by  producing  con- 
viction without  reason;  an  unreasonable  conclu- 
sion. Nor  yet  apart  from  the  reason;  equally 
unreasonable.  Nor  by  producing  more  reasons 
for  the  conclusion.  But  by  giving  their  true 
weight  and  validity  to  the  reasons  which  exist 
and  so  leading  to  the  true  conclusion,  with  Divine 
assurance.  The  function  of  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  is,  therefore,  to  give  to  our  halting 
conclusions  the  weight  of  His  Divine  certitude. 


192  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

It  may  be  our  reasoning  by  which  the  conclusion 
is  reached.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit 
which  gives  to  a  conclusion  thus  reached  inde- 
fectible certainty.  It  is  the  Spirit  alone  who  is 
the  author,  therefore,  of  the  Christian's  firm  as- 
surance. We  have  grounds,  good  grounds,  for 
belie\^g  that  we  are  in  Christ,  apart  from  His 
witness.  Through  His  witness  these  good  grounds 
produce  their  full  effect  in  our  minds  and  hearts. 


THE    SPIRIT'S   HELP   IN   OUR   PRAYING 

Rom.  8:26,  27: — "And  in  like  manner  the  Spirit  also  helpeth 
our  infirmity:  for  we  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought;  but  the 
Spirit  himself  maketh  intercession  for  us  with  groanings  which 
cannot  be  uttered;  and  he  that  searcheth  the  hearts  knoweth 
what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit,  because  he  maketh  intercession 
for  the  saints  according  to  the  will  of  God." 

The  direct  teaching  of  this  passage  obv-iously  is 
that  the  Holy  Ghost,  dwelling  in  Christian  men, 
indites  their  petitions,  and  thus  secures  for  them 
both  that  they  shall  ask  God  for  what  they  really 
need  and  that  they  shall  obtain  what  they  ask. 
There  is  here  asserted  both  an  effect  of  the  Spirit's 
working  on  the  heart  of  the  believer  and  an  effect 
of  this.  His  working  on  God.  Even  Christian 
men  are  full  of  weakness,  and  neither  know  what 
they  should  pray  for  in  each  time  of  need,  nor 
are  able  to  pray  for  it  with  the  fervidness  of  desire 
which  God  would  have  them  use.  It  is  by  the 
operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  their  hearts 
that  they  are  thus  led  to  pray  aright  in  matter 
and  manner,  and  that  their  petitions  are  rendered 
acceptable  to  God,  as  being  according  to  His  will. 
This  is  the  obvious  teaching  of  the  passage;  but 
that  we  may  fully  understand  it  in  its  implica- 
tions and  shades  it  will  be  desirable  to  look  at  it  in 
its  context. 

The  eighth  chapter  of  Romans  is  an  outburst 
193 


194  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

of  humble  triumph  on  the  Apostle's  part,  on  real- 
izing that  the  conflict  of  the  Christian  life  as  de- 
picted in  the  seventh  chapter  issues  in  victory, 
through  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Evil 
may  be  entrenched  in  our  members ;  but  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation  has  entered  our  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  by  the  prevalent  working  of 
that  Holy  Spirit  in  us  we  are  enabled  to  cry  Abba, 
Father;  and  being  made  sons  of  God  are  consti- 
tuted His  heirs  and  co-heirs  with  Jesus  Christ. 
Not  as  if,  indeed,  we  are  to  be  borne  withbut 
effort  of  our  own  into  this  glorious  inheritance — 
"to  be  carried  to  the  skies  on  flowery  beds  of 
ease."  No!  "Surely  we  must  fight,  if  we  would 
win."  For,  after  all,  the  Christian  life  is  a  pil- 
grimage to  be  endured,  a  journey  to  be  accom- 
plished, a  fight  to  be  won.  Least  of  all  men  was 
the  Apostle  Paul,  whose  life  was  in  labours  more 
abundant  and  in  trials  above  measure,  liable  to 
forget  this.  It  is  out  of  the  experiences  of  his  own 
life  as  well  as  out  of  the  nature  of  the  thing  that  he 
adds,  therefore,  to  his  cry  of  triumph  a  warning 
of  the  nature  of  the  life  which,  nevertheless,  we 
must  still  live  in  the  flesh.  If  "the  Spirit  Him- 
self beareth  witness  with  our  Spirits  that  we  are 
the  Sons  of  God,"  and  the  glorious  sequence  fol- 
lows, "and  if  children,  then  heirs,  heirs  of  God  and 
joint  heirs  with  Christ,"  no  less  do  we  need  to  be 
reminded  further  of  the  condition  underlying  the 
victory — "if  so  be  that  we  suffer  with  Him  that 


HELP  IN  OUR  PRAYING  195 

we  may  also  be  glorified  with  Him."  To  share 
with  Christ  His  glory  implies  sharing  with  Him 
His  sufferings.  "Must  Jesus  tread  the  path  alone 
and  all  the  world  go  free.^"  Union  with  Him  im- 
plies taking  part  in  all  His  life  experiences,  and  we 
can  ascend  the  throne  with  Him  only  by  treading 
with  Him  the  pathway  by  which  He  ascended  the 
throne.  It  was  from  the  cross  that  He  rose  to 
heaven. 

The  rest  of  this  marvellous  chapter  seems  to  be 
devoted  to  encouraging  the  saint  in  his  struggles 
as  he  treads  the  thorny  path  with  Christ.  The 
first  encouragement  is  drawn  from  the  relative 
greatness  of  the  sufferings  here  and  the  glory  yon- 
der; the  second,  from  the  assistance  in  the  jour- 
ney received  from  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  the  third 
from  the  gracious  oversight  of  God  over  the  whole 
progress  of  the  journey.  This  whole  section  of 
the  chapter,  therefore,  appears  as  Paul's  word  of 
encouragement  to  the  believer  as  he  struggles  on 
in  his  pilgrimage — in  his  "Pilgrim's  Progress" — 
in  view  of  the  hardships  and  sufferings  and  trials 
attendant  in  this  sinful  world  on  the  life  in  Christ. 
It  is  substantially,  therefore,  an  Apostolic  com- 
mentary on  our  Lord's  words,  "If  any  man  would 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me;"  "he  that  doth  not  take 
up  his  cross  and  follow  after  me,  is  not  worthy  of 
me."  These  sufferings,  says  Paul,  are  inevitable; 
no  cross,  no  crown.     But  he  would  strengthen  us 


196  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

in  enduring  the  cross  by  keeping  our  eye  on  the 
crown,  by  assuring  us  of  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  our  ever-present  helper,  and 
by  reminding  us  of  the  Divine  direction  of  it 
all.  Thus  he  would  alleviate  the  trials  of  the 
journey. 

Our  text  then  takes  its  place  as  one  of  these  en- 
couragements to  steadfast  constancy,  endurance, 
in  the  Christian  life — to  what  we  call  to-day 
"perseverance."  The  "weakness,"  "infirmity," 
to  which  it  refers  is  to  be  taken,  therefore,  in  the 
broadest  sense.  No  doubt  its  primary  reference 
may  be  to  the  remnant  of  indwelling  sin,  not  yet 
eradicated  and  the  source  of  all  the  Christian's 
weaknesses.  But  it  is  not  confined  to  this.  It 
includes  all  that  comes  to  a  Christian  as  he  suffers 
with  Christ;  all  that  is  included  in  our  Lord's 
requirement  of  denying  ourselves  and  taking  up 
our  cross.  Paul's  life  of  suffering  for  the  Gospel's 
sake  may  be  taken  by  us,  as  it,  doubtless,  was  felt 
by  him  as  he  penned  these  words,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  breadth  of  the  meaning  of  the  word. 
He  who  would  live  godly  must  in  every  age  suffer 
a  species  of  persecution;  a  species,  differing  in 
kind  with  the  tone  and  temper  and  quality  of 
each  age,  but  always  persecution.  He  who  would 
follow  after  Christ  must  meet  with  many  opposers. 
A  strenuous  life  is  the  Christian  life  in  the  world; 
it  is  appropriately  designated  a  warfare,  a  fight. 
But  we  are  weak.     And  the  weakness  meant  is  in- 


HELP  IN  OUR  PRAYING  197 

elusive  of  all  human  weaknesses  in  the  stress  of 
the  great  battle. 

The  encouragement  which  Paul  offers  us  in  this 
our  confessed  weakness,  is  the  ever-present  aid  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  We  are  not  to  be  left  to  tread 
the  path,  to  fight  the  fight,  alone;  the  Spirit  ever 
"helpeth"  our  weakness,  "takes  our  burden  on 
Himself,  in  our  stead  and  yet  along  with  us,"  as 
the  double  compound  word  expresses.  He  does 
not  take  it  away  from  us  and  bear  it  wholly  Him- 
self, but  comes  to  our  aid  in  bearing  it,  receiving 
it  also  on  His  shoulders  along  with  us.  In  giving 
this  encouragement  of  the  ever-present  aid  of  the 
Spirit  in  our  weakness,  the  Apostle  adds  an  illus- 
tration of  it.  And  it  is  exceedingly  striking  that, 
in  seeking  an  illustration  of  it,  the  Apostle  thinks 
at  once  of  the  sphere  of  prayer.  It  shows  his 
estimate  of  the  place  of  prayer  in  the  Christian 
struggle,  that  in  his  eye,  prayer  is  really  "the 
Christian's  vital  breath."  Our  weakness,  he 
seems  to  say,  is  helped  primarily  by  the  Spirit 
through  His  inditing  our  prayers  for  us.  Per- 
haps this  will  not  seem  strange  to  us  if  we  will  fitly 
consider  what  the  Christian  life  is,  in  its  depend- 
ence on  God;  and  what  prayer  is,  in  its  attitude  of 
dependence  on  God.  Prayer  is,  in  a  word,  the 
correlate  of  religion.  The  prayerful  attitude  is 
the  religious  attitude.  And  that  man  is  religious 
who  habitually  holds  toward  God,  in  life  and 
thought,  in  act  and  word,  the  attitude  of  prayer. 


198  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Is  it  not  fitting,  after  all,  that  Paul  should  encour- 
age the  Christian  man,  striving  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian life — denying  himself  and  taking  up  his 
cross  and  following  Christ — by  assuring  him 
primarily  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  ever  present, 
helping  him  in  his  weakness,  to  this  effect  that  his 
attitude  towards  God  in  his  conscious  dependence 
on  Him,  should  be  kept  straight?  For  this  it  is 
to  help  us  in  prayer. 

Nor  can  it  seem  strange  to  us  that  Paul  adverts 
to  our  need  of  aid  in  prayer  in  the  very  matter  of 
our  petitions.  It  is  worth  noting  how  very  vitally 
he  writes  here,  doubtless,  again  out  of  his  own  ex- 
perience. "We  know  not  what  we  should  pray 
for,"  he  says,  "in  each  time  of  need" — according, 
that  is,  to  the  needs  of  each  occasion.  It  is  not 
lack  of  purpose — it  is  lack  of  wisdom,  that  he  in- 
timates. We  may  have  every  desire  to  serve  God 
and  every  willingness  to  serve  Him  at  our  imme- 
diate expense,  but  do  we  know  what  we  need  at 
each  moment.?  The  wisest  and  best  of  men  must 
needs  fail  here.  So  Paul  found,  when  he  asked 
thrice  that  the  thorn  in  the  flesh  might  be  re- 
moved and  stayed  not  till  the  Lord  had  told  him 
explicitly  that  His  grace  was  sufficient  for  him. 
How  often  we  would  rather  escape  the  suffering 
that  lies  in  our  path  than  receive  of  the  grace  of 
God!  Nay,  a  greater  than  Paul  may  here  be  our 
example.  Did  not  our  Lord  Himself  say,  "Now 
ismy  soul  troubled;  and  what  shall  I  say.?  Father, 


HELP  IN  OUR  PRAYING  199 

save  me  from  this  hour."  Quick  though  came  the 
response  back  from  His  own  soul,  "But  for  this 
cause  came  I  unto  this  hour:  Father,  glorify  thy 
name,"  yet  may  we  not  see  even  in  this  momentary 
hesitation  a  hint  of  that  uncertainty  of  which  all 
are  more  or  less  the  prey?  It  is  not  merely  in  the 
recalcitrances  of  the  Christian  life — God  knows 
we  have  need  enough  there ! — but  it  is  not  only  in 
the  recalcitrances  and  the  mere  unwillingnesses  of 
the  Christian  life  that  the  Spirit  aids  us;  but  in  the 
perplexities  of  the  Christian  life  too.  Under  His 
leading  we  shall  not  only  be  saved  from  sins,  but 
also  from  mistakes,  in  the  will  of  God.  And  thus 
He  leads  us  not  only  to  pray,  but  to  pray  "ac- 
cording to  the  will  of  God." 

And  now,  how  does  the  Spirit  thus  aid  us  in 
praying  according  to  the  will  of  God.^  Paul  calls 
it  a  making  of  intercession  for  us  with  groanings 
which  cannot  be  uttered;  making  intercession  for 
us  or  in  addition  to  us,  for  the  word  could  have 
either  meaning.  It  is  clear  from  the  whole  pas- 
sage that  this  is  not  an  objective  intercession  in 
our  behalf — made  in  heaven  as  Christ  our  Medi- 
ator intercedes  for  us.  That  the  Spirit  makes  in- 
tercession for  us  is  known  to  God  not  as  God  in 
heaven,  but  as  "searcher  of  hearts."  It  is 
equally  clear  that  it  is  not  an  intercession  through 
us  as  mere  conduits,  unengaged  in  the  intercession 
ourselves;  it  is  an  intercession  made  by  the  Spirit 
as  our  helper  and  not  as  our  substitute.     It  is 


200  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

equally  clear  that  it  is  not  merely  in  our  natural 
powers  that  the  Spirit  speaks;  it  is  a  groaning  of 
which  the  Spirit  is  the  author  and  "over  and 
above"  our  own  praying.  It  is  clear  then  that 
it  is  subjective  and  yet  not  to  be  confused  with  our 
owTi  prayings.  Due  to  the  Spirit's  working  in 
our  hearts  we  conceive  what  we  need  in  each  hour 
of  need  and  ask  God  for  it  with  unutterable 
strength  of  desire.  The  Spirit  intercedes  for  us 
then  by  working  in  us  right  desires  for  each  time 
of  need;  and  by  deepening  these  desires  into  un- 
utterable groans.  They  are  our  desires,  and  our 
groans.  But  not  apart  from  the  Spirit.  They 
are  His;  \\Tought  in  us  by  Him.  And  God,  who 
searches  the  heart,  sees  these  unutterable  desires 
and  "knows  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  that  He  is 
making  intercession  for  the  saints  according  to  the 
will  of  God." 

Thus,  then,  the  Spirit  helps  our  weakness.  By 
His  hidden,  inner  influences  He  quickens  us  to  the 
perception  of  our  real  need;  He  frames  in  us  an 
infinite  desire  for  this  needed  thing;  He  leads  us 
to  bring  this  desire  in  all  its  unutterable  strength 
before  God;  who,  seeing  it  within  our  hearts,  can- 
not but  grant  it,  as  accordant  with  His  will. 
Is  not  this  a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble.^ 
As  prevalent  a  help  as  if  we  were  miraculously 
rescued  from  any  danger?  And  yet  a  help 
wrought  through  the  means  of  God's  own  appoint- 
ment, that  is,  our  attitude  of  constant  dependence 


HELP  IN  OUR  PRAYING  201 

on  Him  and  our  prayer  to  Him  for  His  aid?  And 
could  Paul  here  have  devised  a  better  encourage- 
ment to  the  saints  to  go  on  in  their  holy  course  and 
fight  the  battle  bravely  to  the  end? 


ALL  THINGS  WORKING  TOGETHER 
FOR  GOOD 

Rom.  8:28: — "And  we  know  that  to  them  that  love  God  all 
things  work  together  for  good,  even  to  them  that  are  called 
according  to  his  purpose." 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  this  verse  marks  the 
climax  of  this  glorious  eighth  chapter  of  Romans. 
The  whole  chapter  may  properly  be  looked  upon 
as  the  reaction  from  the  depths  of  the  seventh 
chapter.  The  key-note  of  that  chapter  is  sounded 
in  the  despairing  cry,  "O  wretched  man  that  I 
am,  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this 
death."  The  key-note  of  this  is  sounded  in  the 
blessed  shout,  "If  God  is  for  us,  who  is  against 
us?"  In  the  seventh  chapter  Paul  uncovers  the 
horror  of  indwelling  sin;  in  the  eighth  he  reveals 
the  glory  of  the  indwelling  Spirit.  The  Christian 
life  on  earth  is  a  conflict  with  sin.  And  therein  is 
the  dreadfulness  of  our  situation  on  earth  dis- 
played. But  we  are  not  left  to  fight  the  battle 
alone.  The  Christian  life  is  a  conflict  of  God — 
not  of  us — w^ith  sin.  And  therein  is  the  joy  and 
glory  of  our  situation  on  earth  manifested.  As 
sinners  we  are  in  terrible  plight.  As  the  ser- 
vants of  God,  fighting  His  battle,  we  are  in  glori- 
ous case. 

The  whole  eighth  chapter  of  the  Romans  is  a 
202 


ALL  WORKING  FOR  GOOD  203 

development  of  the  blessedness  which  arises  from 
the  discovery  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  us,  as  the 
real  power  making  for  righteousness  which  is  in 
conflict  with  indwelling  sin.  It  opens  with  the 
proclamation  that  the  liberation  of  the  sinner  is 
effected  by  the  presence  in  him  of  the  "law  of  the 
spirit  of  life."  It  proceeds  by  dwelling  on  the 
blessings  that  are  ours  by  virtue  of  this  great  fact 
of  the  indwelling  Spirit.  First,  a  new  and  uncon- 
querable principle  of  life  and  holiness  is  implanted 
in  us  (1-11);  next,  a  new  relationship  to  God,  as 
His  sons  and  heirs,  is  revealed  to  us  (12-17); 
still  further,  a  new  and  unquenchable  hope  is 
made  ours  (18-25),  which  has  respect  amid  what- 
ever sufferings  attend  us  here  to  the  supreme 
greatness  of  the  reward.  Lastly,  a  new  support 
in  our  present  weakness  is  granted  us  (26-30). 

The  section  from  verse  26  to  verse  30  is  thus  re- 
vealed to  us  as  one  of  the  grounds  of  the  Chris- 
tian's encouragement  amidst  the  evils  of  life. 
It  was  not  enough  for  Paul  to  paint  the  coming 
glory.  Even  in  the  present  weakness  we  are  not 
left  without  efficient  aid.  It  is  true  that  in  this 
weakness — it  is  part  of  the  very  weakness — we 
cannot  be  sure  what  we  need  and  cannot  even 
pray  articulately;  we  can  only,  like  nature  itself 
(vs.  22),  groan  and  travail  in  pain,  for  we  scarcely 
know  what.  But  there  is  one  who  knows.  In 
these  very  inarticulate  groans  the  Spirit's  hand 
is  active;  and  the  searcher  of  hearts  according  to 


204  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

whose  appointment  it  is  that  the  Spirit  inter- 
cedes for  saints,  understands  and  knows.  There 
is  no  danger,  then,  that  we  shall  fail  of  the  needed 
help.  Maybe  we  do  not  know  what  we  need — 
God  does.  He  can  and  will  read  off  our  groans 
of  pain  and  longing  in  terms  of  intelligence  and  of 
love.  "For  we  know  that  with  those  that  love 
God,  God  co-worketh  in  respect  to  all  things  unto 
good."  There  is  nothing  that  can  befall  us  which 
is  undirected  by  Him;  and  nothing  will  befall 
those  that  love  Him,  therefore,  which  is  not  di- 
rected by  Him  to  their  good. 

The  fundamental  thought  is  the  universal  gov- 
ernment of  God.  All  that  comes  to  you  is  under 
His  controlling  hand.  The  secondary  thought  is 
the  favour  of  God  to  those  that  love  Him.  If  He 
governs  all,  then  nothing  but  good  can  befall  those 
to  whom  He  would  do  good.  The  consolation 
lies  in  the  shelter  which  we  may  thus  find  beneath 
His  almighty  arms.  We  are  weak,  we  are  blind; 
He  is  strong  and  He  is  wise.  Though  we  are  too 
weak  to  help  ourselves  and  too  blind  to  ask  for 
what  we  need,  and  can  only  groan  in  unformed 
longings.  He  is  the  author  in  us  of  these  very 
longings — He  knows  what  they  really  mean — 
and  He  will  so  govern  all  things  that  we  shall  reap 
only  good  from  all  that  befalls  us.  All,  though  for 
the  present  it  seems  grievous;  all,  though  it  be 
our  sin  itself,  as  Augustine  properly  saw  and  as 
the  context  demands  (for  is  not  the  misery  of  the 


ALL  WORKING  FOR  GOOD  205 

seventh  chapter  the  misery  of  indwelling  sin,  and 
is  not  the  joy  of  the  closing  verses  of  the  eighth 
chapter  the  joy  of  salvation  from  sin?) — all,  there 
is  no  exception  allowed:  in  all  things  God  co- 
operates so  with  us  that  it  can  conduce  only  to 
our  good.  Our  eternal  good,  obviously;  be- 
cause it  is  throughout  the  good  of  the  soul,  the 
good  of  the  eternal  salvation  in  Christ,  that  is  in 
evidence. 

We  say  this  is  the  climax  of  the  eighth  chapter 
of  Romans.  After  this  nothing  remains  but  the 
psean  of  victory  that  fills  the  concludmg  verses. 
If  there  is  not  only  a  power  withm  us  making  for 
righteousness  to  which  the  final  victory  is  as- 
sured; not  only  an  inheritance  far  surpassing  the 
present  evil,  awaiting  us;  but  also  everything  that 
befalls  us  is  so  governed  that  it,  everything,  is  for 
our  good  and  befalls  us  only  because  it  is  for  our 
good;  why  we  certainly  are  m  excellent  case. 

It  is  possible  to  say,  indeed,  that  there  is  noth- 
ing revealed  here  which  deserves  to  be  thought  of 
as  the  culmination  of  a  specifically  Christian  en- 
couragement. What,  indeed,  is  here  announced 
that  devout  souls  have  not  always  possessed.? 
In  what  does  this  fervent  declaration,  for  example, 
go  beyond  the  philosophy  of  Joseph  in  the  world's 
early  prime — in  the  simple  days  of  patriarchal 
faith— when,  looking  back  on  the  fortunes  of  his 
own  chequered  life,  on  the  plots  of  his  brethren 
against  his  person  when  sold  by  them  into  Egypt, 


206  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

and  the  marvellous  befallings  which  came  to  him 
there,  he  said  to  them  at  the  last,  "As  for  you,  ye 
meant  evil  against  me;  but  God  meant  it  for 
good,  to  bring  to  pass  as  it  is  this  day  ?  "  Did  not 
Joseph  already  hold  the  secret  of  Paul's  consola- 
tion— that  God  is  Lord  of  all,  that  nothing  comes 
to  us  except  by  His  ordering,  that  therefore  to 
those  who  serve  Him,  all  that  occurs  to  them,  black 
as  it  may  seem  to  their  short  vision,  is  meant  for 
good  and  will  bring  to  pass  the  peaceable  fruits  of 
joy  and  righteousness?  Nay,  did  not  that  half- 
heathen  Jew,  the  son  of  Sirach,  who  wrote  the 
book  of  Ecclesiasticus,  have  adequate  under- 
standing of  the  whole  matter,  when  he  wrote,  in  a 
context  which  magnifies  the  all-reaching  power  of 
God,  "For  the  good  are  good  things  created  from 
the  beginning  ...  all  these  things  are  for  good  to 
the  godly,"  adding  on  the  other  hand,  that  evil 
things  are  equally  created  for  sinners  and  what  is 
good  for  the  godly  is  turned  into  evil  for  sinners? 
Lideed,  is  there  anything  here  to  which  the 
heathen  themselves  could  not  attain.^  Can  we 
forget,  for  example,  that  beautiful  discussion  in 
the  tenth  book  of  the  Republic  in  which  Socrates 
reasons  with  Glaucon  on  the  rewards  of  virtue.^ 
Must  we  not  suppose,  he  urges,  that  the  gods  accu- 
rately estimate  the  characters  of  men,  and  know 
thoroughly  both  the  just  and  the  unjust?  And 
must  we  not  suppose  that  they  look  with  friendly 
eye  upon  the  just  and  with  enmity  upon  the  un- 


ALL  WORKING  FOR   GOOD  207 

righteous?  And  must  we  not  suppose,  still  further, 
that  they  will  be  good  to  those  whom  they  recog- 
nize as  their  friends,  and  grant  them  every  good — 
excepting,  of  course,  only  such  evil  as  is  the  con- 
sequence of  their  former  sins?  "Then,  this," 
Socrates  continues,  "must  be  our  notion  of  the 
just  man,  that  even  when  he  is  in  poverty  or  sick- 
ness, or  any  other  seeming  misfortune,  all  things 
will  in  the  end  work  together  for  good  to  him  in 
life  and  death :  for  the  gods  have  a  care  for  anyone 
whose  desire  is  to  become  just  and  to  be  like  God, 
as  far  as  man  can  attain  His  likeness  by  the  pur- 
suit of  virtue."  What  is  there  in  Paul's  assevera- 
tion that  goes  beyond  this  calmly  expressed  con- 
viction— the  very  language  of  which  is  so  closely 
assimilated  to  Paul's — except  a  little  characteristic 
fervency  of  tone? 

Well,  it  is  to  be  admitted  at  once  that  there  is 
much  in  Paul's  great  statement  which  is  not  pe- 
culiar to  it.  The  assurance  of  God's  providential 
conduct  of  the  whole  complex  of  the  universe  that 
He  has  made;  the  conviction  that  in  His  control 
of  the  details  of  life  He  will  not  forget  those  who 
are  specially  well-pleasing  to  Him;  the  firm  faith 
therefore  that  the  path  of  happiness  is  to  see  to  it 
that  we  are  well-pleasing  to  God ;  that,  as  all  that 
occurs  is  of  God's  ordering,  so  all  that  occurs  to 
the  friends  of  God  will  work  out  good  to  them — 
this  is,  of  course,  of  the  very  essence  of  natural 
religion,  and  he  who  really  believes  in  a  personal 


208  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

God  clothed  with  ethical  attributes,  must  needs 
believe  it.  All  the  more  shame,  then,  when  men 
who  profess  to  believe  in  such  a  God — to  be  The- 
ists — relax  the  height  of  this  great  and  most  fun- 
damental faith,  as  many  of  the  heathen  have  done; 
as  some  even  of  our  modern  Christian  teachers 
have  done,  asking  doubtfully  or  denyingly,  for 
example,  whether  God  sends  trouble,  as  if  trouble 
could  come  to  one  of  God's  beloved  ones  without 
His  behest, — and  totally  failing  to  retain,  we  will 
not  say  Paul's  height,  but  even  the  height  of  the 
higher  heathenism,  which  could  see  that  it  is  a 
higher  as  well  as  a  truer  view  that  trouble  is  an  in- 
strument of  God's  good  to  God's  friends.  Never- 
theless, there  is  more  in  Paul's  statement  than  was 
reached  by  the  heathen  sage;  something  more  even 
perhaps  than  underlies  the  more  enlightened  and 
more  penetrating  view  of  Joseph. 

We  cannot  stop  to  develop  the  differences  in 
detail.  But  we  may  note  briefly  at  least  one  of 
the  most  fundamental  of  them,  one  so  funda- 
mental that  it  transforms  everything. 

This  is  the  difference  in  the  ground  of  the  assur- 
ance which  is  cherished.  The  ground  on  which 
the  heathen  sage  founded  his  conviction  was  the 
essential  righteousness  of  the  expectation.  God 
owes  to  those  who  love  Him  different  treatment 
from  that  accorded  to  those  who  hate  Him.  Pos- 
sibly we  may  think  that  the  modern  heathen  rise 
a  step  higher  when  they  substitute  the  idea  of 


ALL  WORKING  FOR  GOOD  209 

goodness  for  that  of  bare  righteousness,  and  say 
that  God  will  do  good  to  those  who  love  Him  be- 
cause He  is  essentially  love  and  will  do  good  to  all 
men.  The  ground  of  Paul's  assurance  is  some- 
thing far  higher.  It  is  not  merely  an  inference 
from  a  conception  of  God  not  obviously  validated 
by  a  broad  survey  of  His  works.  It  is  not  even 
an  inference  from  the  ineradicable  and  thoroughly 
authenticated  conviction  that  He  is  righteous.  It 
is  an  express  declaration  of  God's  own.  It  is  a 
"revelation  from  heaven"  spoken  by  the  lips  of 
prophets  and  of  the  Son  Himself. 

To  the  heathen  God  is  to  bless  His  friends  be- 
cause they  are  His  friends;  to  Paul  they  are  His 
friends  because  God  blesses  them.  The  whole 
basis  of  the  heathen's  conviction  is  a  judgment  in 
righteousness;  it  is  purely  abstract;  if  a  man  is 
righteous  then  God  must  treat  him  as  such. 
Granted.  But,  is  a  man  righteous .^^  I — am  I 
righteous.'^  If  a  man  is  righteous,  God  will,  un- 
doubtedly, treat  him  as  such;  God  owes  him  good 
and  not  evil.  But  I — I  myself — how  will  God 
treat  me?  Will  that  depend  on  whether  I  am  now 
righteous?  And  on  what  my  past  sins  deserve? 
Well,  w^ho  is  now  righteous?  And  what  do  my 
past  sins  deserve?  For  the  righteous  man — who 
has  no  present  and  no  past  sins  to  come  into  con- 
sideration— this  may  be  satisfactory  enough.  But 
where  is  that  righteous  man?  This  is  what  we 
mean  by  saying  that  the  heathen's  proposition  is 


210  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

purely  abstract.     It  is  true  enough;   but  it  is  of 
no  personal  interest  to  sinners. 

Paul  was  thinking  not  of  righteous  men  but  of 
sinners.  It  is  concerning  sinners  that  he  is  talk- 
ing, concerning  those  who  had  had  and  were  having 
the  experience  of  the  seventh  chapter  of  Romans. 
Essentially  different,  his  good  tidings  to  sinners 
from  the  cold  deduction  of  reason  which  Plato 
offers  to  the  just!  And  this  is  the  exact  differ- 
ence: righteous  men  amid  the  evils  of  earth  seek 
a  theodicy — they  want  a  justification  of  God; 
sinners  do  not  need  a  theodicy — all  too  clear  to 
them  is  the  reason  of  their  sufferings — they  want 
a  consolation,  a  justification  from  God.  Paul's 
words  are  in  essence,  then,  not  a  theodicy  but  a 
consolation.  Such  a  consolation  can  rest  on  noth- 
ing but  a  revelation;  and  Paul  founds  it  on  a  rev- 
elation which  he  represents  as  of  immanent  knowl- 
edge in  the  Church:  "We  know,"  says  he,  "that 
all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love  God."  We  bless  God  that  we  know  it!  For 
we  are  sinners,  and  what  hope  have  we  save  in  a 
God  who  is  gracious  rather  than  merely  just? 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY 

1  Cor.  3:5-9:— "What  then  is  Apollos?  And  what  is  Paul? 
Ministers  through  whom  ye  believed;  and  each  as  the  Lord  gave 
to  him.  I  planted,  Apollos  watered;  but  God  gave  the  increase. 
So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  anything,  neither  he  that  water- 
eth;  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase.  Now  he  that  planteth  and 
he  that  watereth  are  one:  but  each  shall  receive  his  own  reward 
according  to  his  own  labour.  For  we  are  God's  fellow- workers:  ye 
are  God's  husbandry,  God's  building." 

These  verses  form  a  natural  section  of  this 
Epistle.  The  Corinthians  had  sent  a  letter  to 
the  Apostle,  making  inquiries  on  several  important 
matters.  But  when  the  Apostle  came  to  make 
reply,  he  had  matters  to  speak  to  them  about 
which  were  far  more  important  than  any  of  the 
questions  asked  in  their  letter.  Trusty  friends 
had  reported  to  him  the  serious  deterioration 
which  the  Corinthian  Church  was  undergoing, 
the  strange,  as  we  may  think  them,  and  certainly 
outbreaking,  immoralities  into  which  they  were 
falling.  Chiefest  of  these,  because  most  funda- 
mental and  most  fecund  of  other  evils,  was  the 
raging  party  spirit,  which  had  arisen  among  them. 
Greek-like,  the  Corinthians  were  not  satisfied 
with  the  matter  of  the  simple  Gospel,  in  whatever 
form,  but  had  begun  to  clothe  its  truths  (and  to 
obscure  them  in  the  act)  in  philosophical  garb 
and  rhetorical  finery;    and  had  split  themselves 

211 


212  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

into  factions,  far  from  tolerant  of  one  another, 
rallying  around  special  teachers  and  glorifying, 
each,  a  special  mode  of  presentation.  So  far 
had  this  gone  that  the  rival  parties  had  long  ago 
broken  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  were  threat- 
ening its  unity. 

Paul  devotes  himself  first  of  all  to  the  sham- 
ing of  this  spirit  and  the  elimination  of  its  results. 
In  doing  so  he  cuts  to  the  roots.  He  begins  with 
a  rebuke  of  the  violence  of  the  Corinthians'  party 
spirit,  sarcastically  suggesting  that  they  had  made 
Christ,  who  was  the  sole  Redeemer  of  God's 
Church  and  in  whom  were  all,  a  share;  and  so  par- 
celled Him  out  to  one  faction — as  if  others  had 
had  Paul  to  die  for  them  and  had  been  baptized  in 
his  name,  and  so  on.  He  then  sets  himself  seri- 
ously to  refute  the  whole  basis  of  their  factions  and 
to  place  firmly  under  his  readers'  feet  the  elements 
of  the  truth.  To  do  this,  he  first  elucidates  the 
relation  of  wisdom — philosophy  and  rhetoric,  we 
would  say  now — to  the  Gospel;  pointing  out  that 
the  Gospel  is  not  a  product  of  human  wisdom  and 
is  not  to  be  commended  by  it;  although,  no  doubt, 
it  proclaims  a  Divine  wisdom  of  its  own  to  those 
who  are  capable  of  receiving  it.  Thus  he  de- 
stroys the  very  nerve  of  their  strife.  Then,  with 
our  present  passage,  he  turns  to  the  parallel  oc- 
casion of  their  strife  and  explains  the  relation 
of  the  human  agents  through  which  it  is  propa- 
gated to  the  Gospel.     This  he  declares  to  be  none 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY  213 

other  than  the  relation  of  hired  servants  to  the 
husbandry  of  the  good-man  of  the  farm.  Pro- 
ceeding to  details,  Paul  and  Apollos,  he  declares, 
are  alike  but  servants,  each  doing  whatever  work 
is  committed  to  him,  work  which  may  no  doubt 
differ,  externally  considered,  in  kind,  though  it  is 
exactly  the  same  in  this — that  it  is  nothing  but 
hired  service,  while  it  is  God  that  gives  the  in- 
crease. There  is  no  difference  in  this  respect; 
not  that  the  work  is  not  deserving  of  reward; 
reward,  however,  not  as  if  the  increase  was  theirs 
but  only  proportioned  to  the  amount  of  their 
work  as  labour.  The  harvest  is  God's;  that  har- 
vest which  they  themselves  are.  They,  the 
labourers,  are  fellow-labourers  only,  working  for 
God.  They,  the  Corinthians,  do  not  belong  to 
them;  they  are  God's  husbandry,  God's  building. 

Thus  the  Apostle  not  only  intimates  but  em- 
phatically asserts  that  the  Church  of  God  is  not 
the  product  of  the  ministry;  no,  nor  is  any  indi- 
vidual Christian.  Every  Christian  and  the  Church 
at  large  is  God's  gift.  God  sets  workmen  to  labour 
in  His  vineyard;  and  rewards  them  richly  for 
their  labour,  paying  each  all  his  wages.  But  these 
labourers,  it  is  not  theirs  to  give  the  increase,  nor 
even  to  choose  their  work.  It  is  theirs  merely  to 
work  and  to  do  each  the  special  work  which  God 
appoints.  The  vineyard  is  God's  and  so  is  the 
increase, — which  God  Himself  gives. 

Now,  looking  at  this  general  teaching  of  the 


214  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

passage  in  a  broad  and  somewhat  loose  way,  we 
see  that  the  following  important  truths  are  in- 
timated. 

(1)  Christianity  is  a  work  which  God  accom- 
plishes in  the  heart  and  in  the  world.  It  may  even 
be  said  to  be  the  work  of  God :  the  work  that  God 
has  set  Himself  to  do  in  this  dispensation,  and 
hence  the  second  creation. 

(2)  Shifting  the  emphasis  a  bit,  we  perceive 
that  the  passage  emphasizes  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity is  a  work  which  is  accomplished  in  the 
heart  and  in  the  world  directly  by  God. 

(3)  Men  are  but  God's  instruments,  tools, 
"agents"  (ministers)  in  performing  this  work. 
They  do  not  act  in  it  for  God,  that  is,  instead  of 
God;  but  God  acts  through  them.  It  is  He  that 
gives  the  increase. 

(4)  All  men  engaged  in  this  work  are  in  equally 
honourable  employment.  If  one  plants  and  an- 
other waters  and  another  reaps,  it  is  all  "one." 
They  are  all  only  fellow-labourers  under  God;  equal 
in  His  sight  and  to  be  rewarded,  not  according  to 
what  they  did,  but  according  to  how  they  did  it. 
This  would  not  be  true  if  man  made  the  increase; 
but  the  reaper  no  more  makes  the  harvest  than 
the  sower.  Nor  would  it  be  true  if  the  reaper  had 
the  increase.  But  it  is  not  the  reaper's  "field." 
He  is  a  hired  labourer,  not  an  owner.  It  is  God's 
field.  Each  gets  his  wages;  little  or  much  ac- 
cording to  the  quality  of  his  work.     Wages  are 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY  215 

measured  fey  labour,  not  results.  And  therefore  it 
is  all  one  to  you  and  me,  as  labourers  in  God's  field, 
whether  He  sets  us  to  plough,  plant,  water  or  reap. 

Looking  at  these  truths  in  turn: 

What  an  encouragement  it  is  to  the  Christian 
worker  to  know  that  Christianity  is,  so  to  speak 
(in  the  figure  of  the  text),  the  crop  which  God  the 
great  husbandman  has  set  Himself  to  plant  and  to 
raise  in  this  "season"  in  which  we  live.  There- 
fore this  dispensation  is  called  "the  year  of  sal- 
vation." And  therefore,  when  pleading  a  little 
later  with  these  same  Corinthians  to  receive  the 
grace  of  God  not  in  vain,  Paul  clinches  the  ap- 
peal with  the  pointed  declaration  that  now,  this 
dispensation,  is  that  accepted  time,  that  day  of 
salvation,  at  last  come,  to  which  all  the  prophets 
pointed,  for  which  all  the  saints  of  God  had 
longed  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  It  is 
therefore  again,  leaving  the  figure,  that  this  same 
Apostle  declares  that  our  Lord  and  Saviour  has 
for  the  whole  length  of  this  dispensation  assumed 
the  post  of  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  in  order  that 
all  things  may  be  administered  for  the  fulfilment 
of  His  great  redemptive  purpose;  in  order  that 
all  things  may,  in  a  word,  be  made  to  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  those  that  love  Him.  Li  a 
word,  God  is  a  husbandman  in  this  season  which 
we  call  the  inter-adventual  period;  and  the  crop 
that  He  is  planting  and  watering  and  is  to  reap  is 
His  Church. 


216  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

No  wonder  our  Saviour  declared  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  like  unto  a  sower  who  went  forth  to 
sow;  who  spread  widely  the  golden  grain,  and 
reaped  it  too,  a  harvest  of  many-fold  yield.  For 
God's  husbandry  cannot  fail.  Other  husband- 
men are  not  in  this  wholly  unlike  their  hired  ser- 
vants: they  plant  and  water, — but  they  cannot 
compel  life;  and  what  may  be  the  results  of  their 
labour  they  know  not.  The  floods  may  come,  the 
winds  may  blow,  the  sun  may  parch  the  earth, 
the  enemy  may  destroy  the  grain.  But  God  gives 
the  increase.  It  is  therefore  that  the  Redeemer 
sits  on  the  throne,  that  floods  and  rain  and  sun — 
all  the  secret  alchemy  of  nature — may  be  in  His 
control,  that  "all  things  shall  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  Him."  There,  I  say,  is 
our  encouragement.  Christianity  is  the  work  of 
God,  the  work  He  has  set  Himself  to  do  in  this 
age  in  which  we  live.  As  we  go  forth  as  His  ser- 
vants to  plant  and  water,  we  may  go  upheld  by  a 
deathless  hope.  The  harvest  cannot  fail.  WTien 
the  sands  of  time  run  out  and  God  sends  forth 
His  reapers,  the  angels,  there  will  be  His  harvest 
thick  on  the  ground — and  the  field  is  the  world. 
The  purpose  of  God  stands  sure.  We  may  not  be 
called  to  see  the  end  from  the  beginning.  But  if 
God  calls  you  and  me  to  plant  or  to  water,  it  is 
our  blessed  privilege  to  labour  on  in  hope. 

All  this  is  just  because  the  result  is  not  ours  to 
produce  or  to  withhold.      It  is   God  that  gives 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY  217 

the  increase.  As  Christianity  is  the  work  which 
God  has  set  before  Himself  to  accompKsh  in  this 
age;  so  Christianity  in  the  world  and  in  the  heart 
is  a  work  which  God  alone  can  accomplish.  It  is 
not  in  the  power  of  any  man  to  make  a  Christian, 
much  less  to  make  the  Church — that  great  or- 
ganized body  of  Christ,  every  member  of  which  is 
a  recreated  man.  Why,  we  cannot  make  our  own 
bodies;  how  much  less  the  body  of  Christ!  If 
in  this  work  Paul  was  nothing  and  Apollos  noth- 
ing, what  are  we,  their  weak  and  unworthy  suc- 
cessors! This  is  the  second  great  lesson  our  pas- 
sage has  to  teach  us;  or,  rather,  we  may  better 
say  this  is  the  great  lesson  it  teaches,  for  it  was 
just  to  teach  this  that  it  was  written.  The  fault 
of  the  Corinthians  was  that  they  had  forgotten 
who  was  the  husbandman,  who  alone  gave  the  in- 
crease. Hence  their  divisions,  making  Christ  only 
the  share  of  one  party,  while  others  looked  to  Paul 
or  Apollos  or  Cephas,  just  as  if  they  stood  related 
to  the  harvest  in  something  of  the  same  way  as 
Christ.  Nay,  says  Paul,  Christ  alone  is  Lord  of 
the  harvest.  It  is  God  alone  who  can  give  the 
increase. 

Paul  had  reason  to  know  this  in  his  own 
experience.  He  knew  how  he  had  been  gath- 
ered into  the  Kingdom.  He  was  soon  to  ac- 
quire new  reason  for  acknowledging  it,  in  that 
journey  of  his  from  Ephesus  to  Macedonia,  in 
which,  while  his  heart  was  elsewhere,  all  unknown 


218  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

to  himself  God  was  leading  him  in  triumph, 
compelling  ever-increasing  accessions  to  his 
train.  Nor  did  he  ever  stint  his  declaration  of  it. 
Thus,  take  that  passage  (Eph.  2:10),  where  he, 
completing  a  long  statement  of  God's  gracious 
dealings  with  Christians  in  quickening  them  into 
newness  of  life,  without  obscurity  or  hesitation 
outlines  the  whole  process  as  a  creative  work  of 
God.  "  For  it  is  by  grace  that  ye  are  saved,  through 
faith:  nor  is  this  of  yourselves,  it  is  God's  gift; 
not  of  works,  lest  some  one  should  boast.  For 
we  are  His  workmanship — creatures — created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works,  which  God  hath 
afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them." 
This  is  Paul's  teaching  everywhere:  that  as  it  is 
God  who  created  us  men,  so  it  is  God  who  has  re- 
created us  Christians.  And  the  one  in  as  direct 
and  true  a  sense  as  the  other.  As  He  used  agents 
in  the  one  case — our  natural  generation  (for  none 
of  us  are  born  men  without  parents),  so  He  may 
use  instruments  in  the  other,  our  spiritual  regen- 
eration (for  none  of  us  are  born  Christians  where 
there  is  no  Word).  But  in  both  cases,  it  is 
God  and  God  alone  who  gives  the  increase. 

Let  us  not  shrink  from  this  teaching;  it  is  the 
basis  of  our  hope.  Though  we  be  Pauls  and  Apol- 
loses  we  cannot  save  a  soul;  though  we  be  as  elo- 
quent as  Demosthenes,  as  subtle  as  Aristotle,  as 
convincing  as  Plato,  as  persistent  as  Socrates,  we 
cannot  save.     And  though  we  be  none  of  these. 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY  219 

but  a  plain  man  with  lisping  lips,  that  can  but  let 
fall  the  Gospel  truth  in  broken  phrases — we  need 
no  eloquent  Aaron  for  our  prophet.  We  need 
only  God  for  our  Master.  It  is  not  we  who  save, 
it  is  God ;  and  our  place  is  not  due  to  our  learning 
or  our  rhetoric  or  our  graces,  it  is  due  to  the  hon- 
ouring of  God,  who  has  mercy  on  whom  He  will 
have  mercy,  and  whom  He  will,  He  hardens. 

Hence  we  have  the  great  consolation  of  knowing 
that  the  responsibility  of  fruitage  to  our  work  does 
not  depend  absolutely  on  us.  We  are  not  the 
husbandman;  the  field  is  not  ours;  its  fruitage  is 
not  dependent  on  or  limited  by  our  ability  to 
produce  it.  All  Christian  ministers  are  but  God's 
"agents"  (for  that  is  the  ultimate  implication  of 
the  term  used),  employed  by  Him  to  secure  His 
purposes;  God's  instruments,  God's  tools.  It  is 
God  who  plans  the  cultivation,  determines  the 
sowing  and  sends  us  to  do  it.  Now  this  is  to 
lower  our  pride.  Some  ministers  act  as  if  they 
owned  the  field;  they  lord  it  over  God's  heritage. 
More  feel  as  if  they  had  produced  all  the  results; 
made,  "created,"  the  fruit.  They  pride  them- 
selves on  the  results  of  their  work  and  compare 
themselves  to  others'  disadvantage  with  their 
neighbours  in  the  fruits  granted  to  their  ministry. 
This  is  like  a  reaper  boasting  over  the  sower  or 
ploughman,  as  if  he  had  made  the  crop  it  has  been 
allowed  him  to  harvest.  Others  feel  depressed, 
cast  down,  at  the  smallness  of  the  fruitage  it  has 


220  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

been  allowed  them  to  see  from  their  work,  and 
begin  to  suspect  that  they  are  not  called  to  the 
ministry  at  all,  because  the  work  given  them 
to  do  was  not  reaping.  And  herein  is  the  con- 
solation: just  because  we  are  not  doing  God's 
work  for  Him,  but  He  is  doing  His  own  work 
through  us;  just  because  we  do  what  work  He 
appoints  to  us;  not  we  but  He  is  responsible  for 
the  harvest.  All  that  is  required  of  stewards  is 
that  they  be  found  faithful. 

Hence — and  this  is  the  final  and  greatest  con- 
solation to  us  as  ministers — it  ought  to  be  a  mattei* 
of  indifference  to  us  what  work  God  gives  us  to 
do  in  His  husbandry.  Reaping  is  no  more  honour- 
able than  sowing;  watering  no  less  honourable 
than  harvesting.  Men  disturb  themselves  too 
much  over  the  kind  of  work  they  are  assigned  to, 
and  can  scarcely  believe  they  are  working  for  God 
unless  they  are  harvesting  all  the  time.  But  in 
the  great  organized  body  of  labour  it  is  as  in 
the  organized  body  to  which  Paul  compares  the 
Church  later:  if  all  were  reapers,  where  were  the 
sowing,  where  were  the  cultivating,  where  the 
watering?  And  if  no  sowing,  and  no  watering, 
where  were  the  reaping  .^^  It  is  not  ours  to  deter- 
mine what  work  we  are  to  do.  It  is  for  us  to  de- 
termine how  we  do  it.  For  none  of  us  will  fail 
of  our  wages  and  the  wages  are  not  proportioned 
to  the  kind  of  work,  as  if  the  reaper  because  he 
reaped   would  have   all   the  reward.     The  field 


MAN'S  HUSBANDRY  AND  GOD'S  BOUNTY  221 

is  not  liis,  and  the  harvest  is  not  his.  He  does 
not  get  the  crop  because  he  reaped  it.  He  gets 
just  what  the  planter  and  waterer  get,  his  wages. 
Wages,  I  say,  not  proportioned  to  the  kind  of 
work,  but  to  the  labour  he  does.  Each  one,  says 
Paul,  shall  receive  "his  own  reward"  according 
to  his  own  labour.  The  amount  of  labour,  not  the 
department  of  work,  is  the  norm  of  our  reward. 
What  a  consolation  this  is  to  the  obscure  work- 
man to  whom  God  has  given  much  labour  and, 
few  results;  reward  is  proportioned  to  the  labour, 
not  the  results !  And  this  for  a  very  good  reason. 
God  apportions  the  work  on  the  one  hand  and 
gives  the  increase  on  the  other.  But  it  is  we  that 
do  the  labour.  And,  of  course,  we  are  rewarded 
according  to  what  is  done  by  us,  not  God.  Let 
us  then  labour  on  in  whatever  sphere  God  gives 
it  to  us  to  labom',  content,  happy,  strenuous,  un- 
tiring, determined  only  to  do  God's  work  in  God's 
way;  not  seeking  to  intrude  into  work  to  which  He 
has  not  appointed  us,  and  not  repining  because  He 
has  given  us  this  work  and  not  that.  Each  one 
to  his  own  labour,  and  God  the  re  warder  of  all! 


COMMUNION   IN    CHRIST'S    BODY   AND 
BLOOD 

1  Cor.  10:16,  17: — "The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not 
a  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ?  The  bread  which  we  break, 
is  it  not  a  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ?  Seeing  that  we, 
who  are  many,  are  one  bread,  one  body:  for  we  all  partake  of  the 
one  bread." 

There  are  few  injunctions  as  to  methods 
of  interpretation  more  necessary  or  more  fruitful 
than  the  simple  one.  Interpret  historically. 
That  is  to  say,  read  your  text  in  the  light  of  the 
historical  circumstances  in  which  it  was  written, 
and  not  according  to  the  surroundings  in  which, 
after  say  two  thousand  years,  you  may  find  your- 
self. And  there  is  no  better  illustration  of  the 
importance  of  this  injunction  than  the  interpre- 
tations which  have  been  put  on  the  passages  in 
the  New  Testament  which  speak  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Little  will  be  hazarded  in  saying  that 
each  expositor  brings  his  own  point  of  view  to  the 
interpretation  of  these  passages,  and  seems  in- 
capable of  putting  himself  in  the  point  of  sight 
of  the  New  Testament  writers  themselves.  He 
who  reads  the  several  comments  of  the  chief 
commentators,  for  instance,  on  our  present  pas- 
sage, quickly  feels  himself  in  atmospheres  of  very 
varied  compositions,  which  have  nothing  in  com- 
mon except  their  absolute  dissimilarity  to  that 

222 


CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD  223 

which  Paul's  own  passage  breathes.  If  we  are 
ever  to  understand  what  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
intended  by  the  founder  of  Christianity  to  be,  we 
must  manage  somehow  to  escape  from  the  com- 
mentators back  to  Paul  and  Paul's  Master.  Here 
then  is  a  specially  pressing  necessity  for  inter- 
preting according  to  the  historical  circumstances. 

The  allusion  to  the  Lord's  Supper  in  our  pres- 
ent passage,  it  will  be  noted,  is  purely  incidental. 
The  Apostle  is  reasoning  with  the  Corinthians  on 
a  totally  different  matter;  on  a  question  of  casu- 
istry which  affected  their  every-day  life.  Im- 
mersed in  a  heathen  society,  intertwined  with 
every  act  of  the  life  of  which  was  some  heathen 
ordinance,  the  early  Christian  was  exposed  at 
every  step  to  the  danger  of  participating  in  idol- 
atrous worship.  One  of  the  places  at  which  he 
was  thus  menaced  with  what  we  may  call  con- 
structive apostacy  was  in  the  very  provision  for 
meeting  his  need  of  daily  food.  The  victims  of- 
fered in  sacrifice  to  heathen  divinities  provided 
the  common  meat-supply  of  the  community.  If 
one  were  invited  to  a  social  meal  with  a  friend,  it 
was  to  an  idol's  feast  that  he  was  bidden.  If  he 
even  bought  meat  in  the  markets,  it  was  a  por- 
tion of  the  idol  sacrifice  alone  that  he  could  pur- 
chase. How,  in  such  circumstances,  was  he  to 
avoid  idolatry.^ 

The  Apostle  devotes  a  number  of  paragraphs  in 
the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  to  solving  this 


224  FAITH  AXD  LIFE 

pressing  question.  The  wisdom  and  moderation 
with  which  he  deals  with  it  are  striking.  His 
fmidamental  proposition  is  that  an  idol  is  nothing 
in  the  world,  and  meats  offered  to  idols  are  noth- 
ing after  all  but  meats,  good  or  bad  as  the  case 
may  be,  and  are  to  be  used  simply  as  such,  on  the 
principle  that  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  full- 
ness thereof.  But.  side  by  side  with  this,  he  lays 
a  second  proposition,  that  any  involvement  in 
idol  worship  is  idolatry  and  must  be  shunned  by 
all  who  would  be  servants  of  the  One  True  God 
and  His  Son.  ^Miether  any  special  act  of  par- 
taking of  meats  offered  to  idols  involves  sharing 
an  idol  worship  or  not,  will  depend  mainly  on  the 
subjective  state  of  the  participant:  and  his  free- 
dom with  respect  to  it  is  conditioned  only  by  his 
debt  of  love  to  his  fellow  Christians,  who  may  or 
may  not  be  as  enlightened  as  he  is.  The  Corin- 
thians appear  to  have  been  a  heady  set  and  the 
Apostle  evidently  feels  it  to  be  the  more  pressing 
need  to  restrain  them  from  hasty  and  unguarded 
use  of  their  new-foimd  freedom.  He  does  not 
urge  them  to  treat  the  idols  as  nothing.  He  urges 
them  to  avoid  entanglement  with  idolatrous  acts. 
And  our  passage  is  a  part  of  his  argument  to  se- 
cure their  avoidance  of  such  idolatrous  acts. 

The  argument  here  turns  on  a  matter  of  fact 
which  would  be  entirely  lucid  to  the  readers  for 
whom  it  was  first  intended,  but  can  be  fathomed 
by  us  only  by  placing  ourselves  in  their  historical 


CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD  225 

position.  Its  whole  force  depends  on  the  readers' 
ready  understanding  of  the  nature  and  signifi- 
cance of  a  sacrificial  feast.  This  was  essentially 
the  same  under  all  sacrificial  systems.  The  eat- 
ing of  the  victim  offered  whether  by  the  IsraeUte 
in  obedience  to  the  Di\Tne  ordinances  of  the  Old 
Covenant,  or  by  the  heathen  in  Corinth,  meant 
essentially  the  same  thing  to  the  participant. 
Therefore  the  Apostle  begins  the  passage  by  ap- 
pealing to  the  intelligence  of  his  former  heathen 
readers  and  submitting  the  matter  to  their  natural 
judgment.  He  asks  them  themselves  to  judge 
whether  it  is  consistent  to  partake  in  the  sacri- 
ficial feasts  of  both  heathen  and  Christian.  This 
is  the  gist  of  the  whole  passage. 

Participation  in  a  sacrificial  feast  bore  such  a 
meaning,  stood  in  such  a  relation  to  the  act  of 
sacrifice  itself,  that  it  was  ob^-ious  to  the  meanest 
intelligence  that  no  one  could  properly  partake 
both  of  the  \'ictims  offered  to  idols  and  of  that 
One  Victim  offered  at  Calvary  to  God.  To  feel 
this  as  the  Corinthians  were  expected  to  feel  it, 
we  must  put  ourselves  in  their  historical  position. 
They  were  heathen,  lived  in  a  sacrificial  system, 
and  knew  by  nature  what  participation  in  the 
victim  offered  in  sacrifice  meant.  We  may  put 
ourselves  most  readily  in  their  place  by  attending 
to  what  Paul  says  here  of  the  Jewish  sacrificial 
feasts,  which  he  adduces  as  altogether  parallel, 
so   far,   with   the    significance    of   the   same   act 


226  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

on  heathen  ground.  "Consider  Israel  after  the 
flesh,"  he  says,  "are  not  those  that  eat  the  sac- 
rifices, communicants  in  the  altar?"  Here  it  is 
all  in  a  nut-shell.  All  those  who  partake  of  the 
victim  offered  in  sacrifice  were  by  that  act  made 
sharers  in  the  act  of  sacrifice  itself.  They — this 
body  of  participants — were  technically  the  offerers 
of  the  sacrifice,  to  whose  benefit  it  inured,  and 
whose  responsible  act  it  was.  Whether  a  Greek, 
sharing  in  the  victim  offered  to  Artemis  or  Aphro- 
dite, or  a  Jew  sharing  in  the  victim  offered  to  Je- 
hovah, or  a  Christian  sharing  in  that  One  Vic- 
tim who  offered  Himself  up  without  spot  to  God, 
the  principle  was  the  same;  he  who  partook  of 
the  victim  shared  in  the  altar — in  the  sacrificial 
act,  in  its  religious  import  and  in  its  benefits. 
Is  it  not  capable  of  being  left  to  any  man's  judg- 
ment in  these  premises,  whether  one  who  shared  in 
the  One  Offering  of  Christ  to  God  could  inno- 
cently take  part  in  the  offerings  which  had  been 
dedicated  to  Artemis  .^^ 

The  point  of  interest  for  us  to-day  in  all  this 
turns  on  the  implication  of  this  argument  as  to 
the  nature  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  view  of 
Paul  and  of  his  readers  in  the  infant  Christian 
community  at  Corinth.  Clearly  to  Paul  and  the 
Corinthians,  the  Lord's  Supper  was  just  a  sacri- 
ficial feast.  As  such — as  the  Christians'  sacri- 
ficial feast — it  is  put  in  comparison  here  with  the 
sacrificial  feasts  of  the  Jews  and  the  heathen.  The 


CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD  227 

whole  pith  of  the  argument  is  that  it  is  a  sacrificial 
feast.  And  if  we  wish  to  know  what  the  Lord's 
Supper  is,  here  is  our  proper  starting  point.  It  is 
the  sacrificial  feast  of  Christians,  and  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  that  the 
heathen  sacrificial  feasts  did  to  their  sacrifices 
and  that  the  Jewish  sacrificial  feasts  did  to  their 
sacrifices.  It  is  a  sacrificial  feast,  offering  the 
victim,  in  symbols  of  bread  and  wine,  to  our  par- 
ticipation, and  signifying  that  all  those  who  par- 
take of  the  victim  in  these  symbols,  are  sharers  in 
the  altar,  are  of  those  for  whom  the  sacrifice  was 
o£Pered  and  to  whose  benefit  it  inures. 

Are  we  then  to  ask,  what  is  the  nature  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  .f^  A  Babel  of  voices  may  rise  about 
us.  One  will  say.  It  is  the  badge  of  a  Christian 
man's  profession.  Another,  It  is  the  bloodless 
sacrifice  continuously  offered  up  by  the  vested 
priest  to  God  in  behalf  of  the  sins  of  men.  His- 
tory says,  briefly  and  pointedly,  it  is  the  Christian 
passover.  And,  so  saying,  it  will  carry  tis  back 
to  that  upper  room  where  we  shall  see  Jesus  and 
His  disciples  gathered  about  the  passover  meal, 
the  typical  sacrificial  feast.  There  lay  the  lamb 
before  Him;  the  lamb  which  represented  Himself 
who  was  the  Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world.  And  there  was  the  company  of 
those  for  whom  this  particular  lamb  was  offered 
and  who  now,  by  partaking  of  its  flesh,  were  to 
claim    their    part    in    the    sacrifice.     And   there 


228  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

stood  the  Antitype,  who  had  for  centuries  been 
represented  year  after  year  by  lambs  like  this. 
And  He  is  now  about  to  offer  Himself  up  in  ful- 
filment of  the  type,  for  the  sins  of  the  world! 
No  longer  will  it  be  possible  to  eat  this  typical 
sacrifice;  typical  sacrifices  were  now  to  cease,  in 
their  fulfilment  in  the  Antitype.  And  so  our 
Lord,  in  the  presence  of  the  last  typical  lamb, 
passes  it  by  and  taking  a  loaf,  when  He  had  given 
thanks,  broke  it  and  said.  This — I  hope  the  em- 
phasis will  not  be  missed  that  falls  on  this  word, 
this — no  longer  the  lamb  but  this  loaf — is  my 
body  which  is  broken  for  you;  this  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me.  And  in  like  manner  also  the  cup 
after  supper,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  New  Cove- 
nant in  my  blood;  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me; 
for  as  often  as  ye  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this 
cup,  ye  proclaim  the  Lord's  death,  until  He  come. 
How  simple,  how  significant,  the  whole  is,  when 
once  it  is  approached  from  the  historical  point  of 
view.  The  Lord's  Supper  is  the  continuation  of 
the  passover  feast.  The  symbol  only  being 
changed,  it  is  the  passover  feast.  And  the  eating 
of  the  bread  and  drinking  of  the  wine  mean  pre- 
cisely what  partaking  of  the  lamb  did  then.  It  is 
communion  in  the  altar.  Christ  our  Passover  is 
sacrificed  for  us;  and  we  eat  the  passover  when- 
ever we  eat  this  bread  and  drink  this  wine  in 
remembrance  of  Him.  In  our  communing  thus 
in  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ  we  partake  of 


CHRIST'S  BODY  AND  BLOOD  229 

the  altar,  and  are  made  beneficiaries  of  the  sacrifice 
He  wrought  out  upon  it. 

The  primary  lesson  of  our  text  to-day  is,  then, 
that  in  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper  we  claim  a 
share  in  the  sacrifice  which  Christ  wrought  out  on 
Calvary  for  the  sins  of  men.     This  is  the  funda- 
mental meaning  of  the  Lord's  Supper  as  a  sacri- 
ficial feast.     The  bread  and  wine  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  represent  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ; 
but  they  represent  that  body  and  blood  not  abso- 
lutely but  as  a  sacrifice — as  broken  and  outpoured 
for  us.     We  are  not  to  puzzle  our  minds  and 
hearts  by  asking  how  His  blood  and  body  become 
ours;   how  they,  having  become  ours,  benefit  us; 
and  the  like.     We  are  to  recognize  from  the  be- 
ginning that  they  were  broken  and  outpoured  in 
sacrifice  for  us,  and  that  we  share  in  them  only 
that,  by  the  law  of  sacrificial  feast,  we  may  partake 
of  the  benefits  obtained  by  the  sacrifice.     It  is  as  a 
sacrifice  and  only  so  that  we  enter  into  this  union. 
A  second  lesson  of  our  text  to-day  is,  that  in 
the  Lord's  Supper  we  take  our  place  in  the  body 
of -Christ's  redeemed  ones  and  exhibit  the  oneness 
of  His  people.     The  text  lays  special  stress  on  this. 
The  appeal  of  the  Apostle  is  that  by  partaking  of 
these  symbols  Christians  mark  themselves  on  the 
one  hand  off  from  the  Jews  and  heathen,  as  a  body 
apart,  having  their  own  altar  and  sacrifice,  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  bind  themselves  together  in 
internal  unity,  for  "by  all  having  a  share  out  of 


230  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  one  loaf,  we  who  are  many  are  one  body  be- 
cause there  is  (only)  one  loaf."  The  whole  Chris- 
tian world  is  a  passover  company  gathered  around 
the  paschal  lamb,  and  by  their  participation  in  it 
exhibiting  their  essential  unity.  When  we  bless 
the  cup  of  blessing,  it  is  a  communion  in  the  blood  of 
Christ;  when  we  break  the  loaf,  it  is  a  communion 
in  the  body  of  Christ;  and  because  it  is  one  loaf, 
however  many  we  are,  we  are  one  body,  as  all  shar- 
ing from  one  loaf.  The  Apostle  very  strongly  em- 
phasizes this  idea  of  communion  here;  and  it  is  ac- 
cordingly no  accident  that  we  have  so  largely  come 
to  call  the  Lord's  Supper  the  "Communion."  It 
is  the  symbol  of  the  oneness  of  Christians. 

Another  lesson  which  our  text  to-day  brings  us 
is  that  the  root  of  our  communion  with  one  an- 
other as  Christians  lies  in  our  common  relation  to 
our  Lord.  We  are  "many,"  says  the  Apostle; 
that  is  what  we  are  in  ourselves.  But  we  "all" 
— all  of  this  "many" — are  "one" — one  body,  be- 
cause there  is  but  one  loaf  and  we  all  share  from 
that  one  loaf.  Christ  is  one  and  we  come  into 
relations  of  communion  with  one  another  only 
through  our  common  relation  to  Him.  The  root 
of  Christian  union  is,  therefore,  the  uniqueness, 
the  solity  of  Christ.  There  is  but  one  salvation; 
but  one  Christian  Kfe;  because  there  is  but  one 
Saviour  and  one  source  of  life;  and  all  those  who 
share  it  must  needs  stand  side  by  side  to  imbibe  it 
from  the  one  fountain. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH 

2  Cor.  4:13: — "But  having  the  same  Spirit  of  faith,  according 
to  that  which  is  written,  I  beUeved,  and  therefore  did  I  speak; 
we  also  believe,  and  therefore  also  we  speak." 

This  verse  is  a  declaration  on  the  Apostle's 
part  of  the  grounds  of  his  courage  and  faithfulness 
in  preaching  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ.  The 
circumstances  which  attended  his  proclamation 
of  this  Gospel  were  of  the  most  oppressive.  In 
the  preceding  verses  we  have  a  picture  of  them 
which  is  drawn  by  means  of  a  series  of  declara- 
tions which  rise,  one  after  another,  to  a  most 
trying  climax.  He  says  that  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  work  he  is  in  every  way  pressed,  perplexed, 
pursued,  smitten  down.  Here  is  a  vivid  picture 
of  the  defeated  warrior,  who  is  not  only  pressed 
by  the  foe,  but  put  at  his  wits,  ends, — not  merely 
thus  discouraged  but  put  to  flight, — not  merely 
pursued  but  smitten  down  to  the  earth.  A  lurid 
picture  of  the  befallings  of  Paul  as  a  minister  of 
Christ  amid  the  spiritual  conflicts  on  this  side  and 
that,  in  Galatia  and  in  Corinth!  Nevertheless 
things  have  not  come  to  an  end  with  him.  Side 
by  side  with  this  series  of  befallings  he  places  a 
contrasting  series  which  exhibits  the  marvellous 
continuance  of  the  Apostle  in  his  well-doing,  in 
spite  of  such  dreadful  happenings  to  him.     Though 

231 


232  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

he  is  in  every  way  pressed  yet  he  is  not  brought  to 
his  last  straits;  though  he  is  in  every  way  per- 
plexed, yet  he  has  not  gone  to  despair;  though  he 
is  pursued  yet  he  is  not  overtaken;  though  he  is 
actually  smitten  down  he  is  yet  not  destroyed. 

In  the  prosecution  of  Paul's  work  as  a  minister 
of  Christ,  there  is  thus  a  marvellous  co-existence 
of  experiences  the  most  desperate  and  of  deliver- 
ances the  most  remarkable.  It  is  as  if  destruc- 
tion had  continually  befallen  him;  yet  ever  out 
of  destruction  he  rises  afresh  to  the  continuance 
of  his  work.  In  this  remarkable  contrast  of  his 
experiences  the  Apostle  sees  a  dramatic  re- 
enactment  of  Christ's  saving  work,  who  died  that 
He  might  live  and  might  bring  life  to  the  world. 
In  it  he  sees  himself,  he  says,  ever  re-enacting  the 
putting  to  death  of  Jesus,  that  the  life  also  of 
Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  his  body.  As  Jesus 
died  and  rose  again,  so  he  daily  dies  in  the  service 
of  Christ  and  comes  to  life  again;  and  so,  abiding 
in  life,  he  is  ever  delivered  to  death  for  Jesus' 
sake  that  the  life  also  of  Jesus  might  be  manifested 
in  his  mortal  flesh.  Oh,  marvellous  destiny  of 
the  followers  of  Christ,  in  the  very  nature  and  cir- 
cumstances of  their  service  to  placard  before  the 
world  the  great  lesson  of  the  redemption  of 
Christ — the  great  lesson  of  life  by  death ;  to  man- 
ifest thus  to  all  men  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  life 
from  Jesus  springing  constantly  out  of  His  death. 
Thus  the  very  life-circumstances  of  Paul  become  a 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH  233 

preached  Gospel.  They  manifest  Christ  and  His 
work  for  souls.  They  manifest  it.  For  the  dying 
is  for  Paul  and  the  life  for  his  hearers. 

Now  Paul  gives  a  twofold  account  of  those  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  preached  the  Gospel.  He 
assigns  them  ultimately  to  the  purpose  of  God. 
This  great  treasure  of  the  glorious  Gospel  has  been 
put  into  such  earthen  vessels  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  more  fully  manifesting  its  divine  glory. 
In  contrast  with  its  vehicle,  the  power  of  the  mes- 
sage is  all  the  more  discernible.  It  is  just  that 
the  exceeding  greatness  of  its  power  may  be  seen 
to  be  of  God  that  it  is  delivered  to  men  in  vessels 
whose  exceeding  weakness  may  be  apparent.  On 
the  other  hand,  that  these  earthen  vessels  are  able 
to  endure  the  strain  put  upon  them  in  conveying 
these  treasures,  is  itself  from  God.  Paul  at- 
tributes it  to  God's  upholding  power,  operating 
through  faith.  That  in  the  midst  of  such  trials 
he  is  enabled  to  endure;  that  though  smitten  down 
continuously  he  is  not  destroyed;  that  though 
dying  daily  he  still  lives  with  a  living  Gospel  still 
on  his  lips;  it  is  all  due  to  the  support  of  his  firm 
conviction  and  faith.  "So  then,  it  is  death  that 
worketh  in  us,  but  life  in  you,  and  having  the 
same  Spirit  of  faith,  according  as  it  is  written,  I 
believed  and,  therefore,  did  I  speak;  we  also  be- 
lieve and  therefore  speak,  since  we  know  that  He 
that  raised  up  Jesus  shall  raise  us  up  also  with 
Jesus,  and  shall  present  us  with  you."     Here  are 


234  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  sources  of  the  Apostle's  strength  and  of  his 
courage.  It  is  only  because  of  his  firm  faith  in 
the  Gospel  he  preaches  that  he  can  endure  through 
the  trials  into  which  its  service  has  immersed  him. 
With  a  less  clear  conviction  and  less  firm  faith  in 
it,  he  would  long  ago  have  succumbed  to  the  evils 
of  his  life  and  his  lips  have  long  ago  become  dumb. 
But  he  believed;  and,  therefore,  though  earth 
and  hell  combined  to  destroy  him,  he  could  not 
but  speak.  Let  earthly  trials  multiply;  beyond 
the  daily  deaths  of  earth  there  was  an  eternal  life 
in  store  for  him;  and  the  more  he  could  rescue 
from  death  to  that  life,  the  more  multiplied  grace 
would  redound  to  increased  thanksgiving  and 
abound  to  God's  glory.  In  the  power  of  this 
faith  the  Apostle  can  face  and  overcome  the  trials 
of  life. 

There  are  many  important  lessons  that  may 
come  to  us  from  observing  this  declaration  of  the 
Apostle's  faith. 

Beginning  at  the  remoter  side  we  may  be  sur- 
prised to  observe  that  he  seeks  the  noi-m  of  his 
faith  in  the  Old  Testament  saints.  "Having  the 
same  Spirit  of  faith,"  he  says,  "according  as  it  is 
written,  I  believed,  and  therefore  did  I  speak" — 
referring  for  the  model  of  faith  back  to  the  words 
of  this  hero  Psalmist.  Now  we  may  not  be  ac- 
customed to  think  of  the  Old  Testament  saints  as 
the  heroes  of  faith.  The  characteristic  emotion  of 
Old  Testament  religion,  we  are  accustomed  to  say^ 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH  235 

was  awe  or  even  fear.  The  characteristic  ex- 
pression of  it  is  summed  up  in  the  term,  "The  fear 
of  the  Lord."  The  New  Testament  on  the  other 
hand  is  the  dispensation  of  faith.  And  if  we  have 
consideration  only  for  the  prevaiHng  language  of 
the  Old  Testament  this  is  true  enough.  The 
word  "faith"  is  scarcely  an  Old  Testament  word; 
it  occurs  but  twice  in  the  English  Old  Testament, 
and  it  is  disputable  whether  on  either  occasion 
it  fairly — or  at  least  fully — represents  the  He- 
brew. Even  the  word  "to  believe"  applied  to 
divine  things  is  rare  in  the  Old  Testament. 

But  the  word  and  the  thing  are  different  matters. 
And  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  conceptions 
of  awe,  fear,  and  of  faith,  trust,  are  so  antagonistic 
as  is  commonly  represented.  Certainly  rever- 
ence and  faith  are  correlative  conceptions.  A 
God  whom  we  do  not  fear  with  religious  rever- 
ence, we  cannot  have  such  faith  in  as  the  Apostle's. 
And  certainly  the  New  Testament  writers  do 
always  look  to  the  Old  Testament  saints  as  the 
heroes  of  faith.  This  is  the  burden  of  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  passages  in  the  New  Testament, 
the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews.  And  of  others 
too.  It  is  the  faith  of  Abraham  which  is  the 
standing  model  of  faith  to  both  Paul  and  James; 
and  it  is  he  who  both  in  the  subjective  and  ob- 
jective senses  of  the  word  is  represented  to  us  as 
the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  Let  it  be  allowed 
that  these  heroes  of  faith  lived  in  the  twilight  of 


236  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

knowledge;  knowledge  and  faith  stand  in  rela- 
tion to  one  another,  but  are  not  the  measure  of 
one  another.  If  there  can  be  no  faith  where  there 
is  no  knowledge,  on  the  other  hand  it  is  equally 
true  that  the  realm  of  dim  knowledge  is  often  the 
region  of  strong  faith, — for  when  we  walk  by  sight, 
faith  has  no  place.  No;  he  that  believes  in  Jesus 
whom  he  has  seen,  must  yield  in  point  of  heroism 
of  faith  and  the  blessedness  promised  to  it,  to 
him  who  having  not  seen  yet  has  believed.  Those 
great  men  of  God  of  old,  not  being  weak  in  faith, 
believed  in  the  twilight  of  revelation,  and  waxing 
strong,  died  in  faith;  and  we  could  wish  nothing 
higher  for  ourselves  than  that  we  might  be  like 
them  in  their  faithful  faith. 

It  is  observable  next  that  the  Apostle  attributes 
the  faith  of  the  Old  Testament  heroes  to  whom  he 
would  direct  our  eyes  as  the  norm  of  faith,  to  the 
work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  felicitates  himself 
not  merely  on  having  the  same  quality  of  faith 
with  them.  He  looks  deeper.  The  ground  of 
rejoicing  in  their  fellowship  is  that  he  shares  with 
them  the  "same  Spirit  of  faith."  "Having  the 
same  Spirit  of  faith,"  he  says.  It  may  be  doubted, 
once  again,  if  we  should  have  naturally  spoken  in 
this  way.  We  may  be  accustomed  to  think  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  an  esssentiall}'  New  Testament  pos- 
session; and  to  conceive,  in  a  more  or  less  for- 
mulated manner,  of  the  saints  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  left  to  their  own  native  powers  in  their 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH  237 

serving  of  God.  Heroes  of  faith  as  they  were,  it 
would  be  peculiarly  difficult,  however,  to  believe 
that  they  reached  the  height  of  their  pious  at- 
tainment apart  from  the  gracious  operations  of 
the  Spirit  of  God.  Or  shall  we  say  that  only  in 
New  Testament  times  men  are  dead  in  sin,  and 
only  in  these  days  of  the  completed  Gospel  and 
of  the  New  Covenant  do  men  need  the  almighty 
power  of  God  to  raise  them  from  their  spiritual 
death? 

Certainly  the  Bible  lends  no  support  to  such  a 
notion.  Less  is  said  of  the  gracious  operations  of 
the  Spirit  in  the  Old  Testament  than  in  the  New, 
but  to  say  less  of  it  is  one  thing  and  its  absence  is 
quite  another.  And  there  is  enough  in  the  Old 
Testament  itself — by  prayer  of  Psalmist  that  the 
Holy  Spirit  should  not  be  taken  away  from  him, 
by  statement  of  historian  that  through  the  Spirit 
God  gave  this  one  and  that  one  a  new  heart,  by 
assurance  of  prophet  that  the  Spirit  of  God  is  the 
author  of  all  right  belief  and  of  all  good  conduct, — 
to  assure  us  that  then,  too,  on  Him  depended  all 
the  exercises  of  piety,  to  Him  was  due  all  the  holy 
aspirations  and  all  the  good  accomplishments  of 
every  saint  of  God.  And  certainly  the  New  Tes- 
tament tells  us  in  repeated  instances  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  active  throughout  the  period  of  the  Old 
Dispensation,  in  all  the  varieties  of  activities 
which  characterize  the  New.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  two  lies  not  in  any  difference  in  the  utter 


238  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

dependence  of  men  on  Him,  or  in  the  nature  of 
His  operations,  but  in  their  extent  and  aim  with 
reference  to  the  Hfe  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Our 
present  passage  is  one  of  those  tolerably  numerous 
New  Testament  ones  in  which  the  gracious  oper- 
ations of  the  Spirit  in  the  Old  Covenant  are  as- 
sumed. Paul  here  tells  us  that  the  faith  of  the 
Old  Testament  saints  was  the  product  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit;  and  he  claims  for  himself  nothing 
more  than  what  he  asserts  for  them.  "Having 
the  same  Spirit  of  faith,"  he  says.  He  is  content — 
nay,  he  is  full  of  joy — to  have  the  same  Spirit 
working  faith  in  him  that  worked  faith  in  them. 
He  claims  no  superiority  in  the  matter.  If  he 
has  a  like  faith,  it  is  because  he  is  made  by  God's 
grace  to  share  in  a  like  fountain  of  faith.  The  one 
Spirit  who  works  faith  is  the  common  possession 
of  them  and  of  him;  and  therein  he  finds  his  high- 
est privilege  and  his  greatest  glory.  What  David 
had  of  the  operations  of  the  Spirit,  that  is  what 
Paul  represents  as  the  height  of  Christian  privi- 
lege to  possess. 

It  may  not  be  wholly  needless  to  observe  further 
the  naturalness  of  Paul's  ascription  of  faith  to  the 
working  of  the  Holy  Spirit — whether  under  the 
Old  or  the  New  Dispensation.  He  means  to  ex- 
press the  confidence  he  has  in  the  glorious  Gospel 
which  he  proclaims.  He  does  not  say,  however, 
simply  "having  a  confident  faith."  He  says, 
"having  the  Spirit  of  faith,"  the  same  Spirit  of 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH  239 

faith  which  wrought  in  the  Psalmist.  So  much 
was  faith  to  him  the  product  of  the  Spirit  that 
he  thinks  of  it  in  terms  of  its  origin.  Clearly  to 
him,  no  Spirit,  no  faith.  Faith  is,  therefore,  most 
absolutely  conceived  by  the  Apostle  as  the  product 
not  of  our  own  powers  but  of  the  Spirit  of  God, 
and  it  is  inconceivable  to  him  that  it  can  exist 
apart  from  His  gift. 

We  may  sometimes  fall  short  of  the  Apostle's 
conception  and  fancy  that  we  can — nay,  that  we 
must — ^first  believe  before  the  Spirit  comes  to  us. 
No,  it  is  the  Spirit  who  gives  faith.  Faith  is  the 
gift  of  God  in  its  innermost  essence;  and  the 
Apostle  continually  thanks  God  for  it,  as  His  gift. 
We  find  it  enumerated  in  Gal.  5:23  among  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit;  in  1  Cor.  12:7  we  find  it  among 
the  gifts  which  the  Spirit  distributes  to  men.  In 
our  present  passage  it  is  emphasized  as  the  work 
of  the  Spirit,  by  its  being  used  as  a  characterizing 
description  of  the  Spirit.  We  do  not  describe 
or  define  a  thing  by  something  which  is  common 
to  it  and  others.  The  possession  of  a  vertebral 
column  will  not  define  a  man;  and  we  should 
never  use  the  designation  of  vertebrate  as  a  syn- 
onym of  man.  That  the  Spirit  is  called  the 
"Spirit  of  faith"  means  that  faith  does  not  exist 
except  as  His  gift;  its  very  existence  is  bound  up 
in  His  working.  Just  as  we  call  Him  the  Spirit  of 
life,  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  and  the  like,  because 
all  life  comes  from  Him  and  all  holiness  is  of  His 


240  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

making,  so,  when  Paul  calls  Him  the  Spirit  of 
faith,  it  is  the  evidence  that  in  Paul's  conception 
all  faith  comes  from  Him. 

It  matters  not  where  faith  is  found — under 
the  Old  Testament  or  the  New — in  Psalmist  or  in 
Apostle — or  in  the  distant  believers  of  the  Twenti- 
eth Century, — it  matters  not  what  degree  of  faith 
is  present,  weak,  timid  faith  which  scarcely  dares 
believe  in  its  own  existence,  or  strong  faith  that 
can  move  mountains, — it  matters  not  what  of 
divine  things  be  its  object,  God  as  our  Ruler  and 
Governor,  the  Scriptures  as  His  Word,  Christ  as 
our  Saviour;  if  it  exists  at  all,  in  any  time,  in 
any  degree,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  wrought  it.  He 
is  the  Spirit  of  faith  and  faith  is  His  unique 
product. 

Finally,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  us  who  are 
charged  with  the  same  duty  of  proclaiming  the 
Gospel  of  salvation  with  which  the  Apostle  was 
charged,  to  take  especial  note  that  he  attributes 
that  supreme  faithfulness  and  steadfastness  which 
pre-eminently  characterized  his  work  in  the  Gos- 
pel to  a  Spirit-wrought  faith  in  the  Gospel  which 
he  preached.  The  secret,  he  tells  us,  of  his  ability 
to  continue  throughout  his  dreadful  trials  in  the 
work  to  which  he  had  been  called;  the  secret  of 
his  power  to  faint  not,  that  is,  not  to  play  the 
coward,  but  to  renounce  the  hidden  things  of 
shame  and  refuse  to  walk  in  craftiness  or  handle 
the  Word  of  God  deceitfully;    the  secret  of  his 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  FAITH  241 

power  to  preach  a  simple  Gospel  in  honest  faith- 
fulness in  the  face  of  all  temptations  to  please 
men,  and  to  preach  the  saving  Gospel  in  the  face 
of  all  persecution — was  simply  that  he  had  a 
hearty  and  unfeigned  faith  in  it.  When  we  really 
believe  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  God — when  we 
really  believe  that  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  the  only  power  of  salvation  in  this 
wicked  world  of  ours — it  is  a  comparatively  easy 
thing  to  preach  it,  to  preach  it  in  its  purity,  to 
preach  it  in  the  face  of  a  scoffing,  nay,  of  a  trucu- 
lent and  murdering  world.  Here  is  the  secret — 
I  do  not  now  say  of  a  minister's  power  as  a  preacher 
of  God's  grace — but  of  a  minister's  ability  to  preach 
at  all  this  Gospel  in  such  a  world  as  we  live  in. 
Believe  this  Gospel,  and  you  can  and  will  preach 
it.  Let  men  say  what  they  will,  and  do  what  they 
will, — let  them  injure,  ridicule,  persecute,  slay, — 
believe  this  Gospel  and  you  will  preach  it. 

Men  often  say  of  some  element  of  the  Gospel: 
"I  can't  preach  that."  Sometimes  they  mean 
that  the  world  will  not  receive  this  or  that.  Some- 
times they  mean  that  the  world  will  not  endure  this 
or  that.  Sometimes  they  mean  that  they  cannot 
so  preach  this  or  that  as  to  win  the  respect  or  the 
sympathy  or  the  acceptance  of  the  world.  The 
Gospel  cannot  be  preached.^  Cannot  be  preached.'^ 
It  can  be  preached  if  you  will  believe  it.  Here  is 
the  root  of  all  your  difficulties.  You  do  not  fully 
believe  this  Gospel!     Believe  it!     Believe  it!  and 


242  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

then  it  will  preach  itself!  God  has  not  sent  us 
into  the  world  to  say  the  most  plausible  things  we 
can  think  of;  to  teach  men  what  they  already 
believe.  He  has  sent  us  to  preach  unpalatable 
truths  to  a  world  lying  in  wickedness;  apparently 
absurd  truths  to  men,  proud  of  their  intellects; 
mysterious  truths  to  men  who  are  carnal  and  can- 
not receive  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Shall 
we  despair?  Certainly,  if  it  is  left  to  us  not  only 
to  plant  and  to  water  but  also  to  give  the  increase. 
Certainly  not,  if  we  appeal  to  and  depend  upon 
the  Spirit  of  faith.  Let  Him  but  move  on  our 
hearts  and  we  will  believe  these  truths;  and,  even 
as  it  is  written,  I  believed  and  therefore  have  I 
spoken,  we  also  will  believe  and  therefore  speak. 
Let  Him  but  move  on  the  hearts  of  our  hearers 
and  they  too  will  believe  what  He  has  led  us  to 
speak.  We  cannot  proclaim  to  the  world  that 
the  house  is  afire — it  is  a  disagreeable  thing  to 
say,  scarcely  to  be  risked  in  the  presence  of  those 
whose  interest  it  is  not  to  believe  it?  But  be- 
lieve it,  and  how  quickly  you  rush  forth  to  shout 
the  unpalatable  truth !  So  believe  it  and  we  shall 
assert  to  the  world  that  it  is  lost  in  its  sin,  and 
rushing  down  to  an  eternal  doom;  that  in  Christ 
alone  is  there  redemption;  and  through  the  Spirit 
alone  can  men  receive  this  redemption.  What 
care  we  if  it  be  unpalatable,  if  it  be  true?  For 
if  it  be  true,  it  is  urgent. 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM 

2  Cor.  6:11-7:1. — "Our  mouth  is  open  unto  you,  O  Corinth- 
ians, our  heart  is  enlarged.  Ye  are  not  straitened  in  us,  but  ye  are 
straitened  in  your  own  affections.  Now  for  a  recompense  in  like 
kind  (I  speak  as  unto  my  children),  be  ye  also  -enlarged.  Be  not 
unequally  yoked  with  unbelievers:  for  what  fellowship  have  right- 
eousness and  iniquity.?  or  what  communion  hath  light  with  dark- 
ness.'' And  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial.?  or  what  portion 
hath  a  believer  with  an  unbeliever?  And  what  agreement  hath  a 
temple  of  God  with  idols?  for  we  are  a  temple  of  the  living'  Ood; 
even  as  God  said,  I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them;  and  I 
will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people.  Wherefore  come 
ye  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
touch  no  unclean  thing;  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  will  be  to  you 
a  Father,  and  ye  shall  be  to  me  sons  and  daughters,  saith  the  Lord 
Almighty.  Having  therefore  these  promises,  beloved,  let  us  cleanse 
ourselves  from  all  defilement  of  flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness 
in  the  fear  of  God." 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  with  exactitude  the 
circumstances  which  gave  occasion  to  this  striking 
paragraph,  which  stands  out  so  prominently 
on  the  pages  of  Second  Corinthians  as  almost  to 
separate  itself  from  its  context  and  form  a  whole 
of  its  own.  Of  two  things,  however,  we  may  be 
reasonably  sure.  There  was  a  party  in  the  Corin- 
thian Church  which  we  may  perhaps  fairly  de- 
scribe as  the  party  of  the  Libertines;  and  out  of 
this  party,  too,  there  had  arisen  an  opposition  to 
the  leadership  of  Paul,  and  a  tendency  to  accuse 
him  of  insincerity  and  self-seeking  in  his  work 

243 


244  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

at  Corinth.  We  must  picture  the  Apostle,  there- 
fore, as  compelled  to  defend  himself  and  the  pur- 
ity of  his  ministry,  in  this  Epistle,  not  only  against 
a  narrow  Judaistic  formalism,  with  its  touch  not, 
taste  not,  handle  not,  but  also  against  a  loose 
worldliness  which  was  inclined  to  adapt  its  Chris- 
tianity to  the  usages  current  in  the  heathen  society 
about  it.  Differing  in  everything  else,  both  par- 
ties agreed  in  unwillingness  to  subject  themselves 
unreservedly  to  the  guidance  of  Paul;  and  in  de- 
fence of  themselves  represented  hfm  as  acting 
towards  the  church  from  interested  motives. 

Bearing  this  in  "mind,  we  may  readily  under- 
stand how,  when  in  the  course  of  his  self-defence 
the  Apostle  has  been  led  to  dwell  upon  the  hard- 
ships he  had  suffered  in  the  prosecution  of  his 
mission,  he  should  break  off  suddenly  with  an 
appeal  to  his  Corinthians  to  separate  themselves 
from  heathen  practices  and  points  of  view,  and 
themselves  to  walk  worthily  of  the  Gospel  they 
professed.  "See,  O  Corinthians,"  he  exclaims, 
"how  freely  I  am  speaking  to  you,  how  widely 
open  my  heart  is  to  you.  You  find  no  constraint 
on  my  part  with  reference  to  you;  the  only  con- 
straint there  is  between  us  lies  in  your  own  hearts. 
Give  me  what  I  give  you — I  am  speaking  as  to  my 
children;  open  wide  your  heart  to  me.  Seek  not 
your  standards  of  life  in  the  unbelievers  about  you. 
Remember  who  you  are  and  what  you  should  be 
as  organs  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  and  be  not  content 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM        245 

until  you  have  attained  that  perfect  holiness 
which  becomes  the  children  of  God."  So  the 
Apostle  transforms  his  defence  of  his  ministry 
into  an  exhortation  to  his  readers,  in  which  he 
again  exercises  his  ministry  of  love  in  a  disinter- 
ested plea  to  them  to  walk  worthily  of  the  Gospel 
of  hohness. 

Dr.  James  Denney  in  his  commentary  on  this 
Epistle,  published  in  "The  Expositor's  Bible," 
heads  the  chapter  in  which  he  deals  with  this 
section,  "New  Testament  Puritanism."  On  the 
face  of  it,  this  is  a  very  good  designation  for  it. 
The  note  of  Puritanism,  which  is  the  note  of  sep- 
aration, certainly  throbs  through  the  section. 
"Come  ye  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  sep- 
arate, saith  the  Lord" — that  assuredly  expresses 
the  very  essence  of  Puritanism.  Or,  perhaps,  we 
may  more  precisely  say  that  it  is  exactly  that  con- 
formity with  the  world  which,  above  all  things, 
Puritanism  dreads,  that  Paul  here  declares,  almost 
with  indignation,  to  be  inconceivable  in  a  true 
Christian.  "For  what  fellowship,"  he  demands 
"is  there  between  righteousness  and  iniquity? 
Or  what  communion  is  there  for  light  with  dark- 
ness? Or  what  concord  of  Christ  with  Belial? 
Or  what  part  has  a  believer  with  an  unbeliever? 
Or  what  agreement  has  a  temple  of  God  with 
idols  ?  "  Here  certainly  is  Puritanism  at  the  height 
of  its  expression. 

Nevertheless  we  must  be  careful  not  to  give  the 


246  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Apostle's  exhortation  a  turn  which  does  not  be- 
long to  it.  The  Apostle  is  not  here  requiring  of 
Christians  a  withdrawal  from  the  world,  consid- 
ered as  the  social  organism;  and  most  certainly 
he  is  not  asking  of  them  to  segregate  themselves 
into  a  community  apart,  between  which  and  the 
mass  of  men  there  shall  be  no,  or  only  the  least 
possible,  intercourse.  On  a  former  occasion,  when 
addressing  these  same  readers,  he  does  indeed 
command  them  not  to  keep  company  with  forni- 
cators. But  he  immediately  adds  that  he  means 
this  aloofness  only  as  a  disciphnary  measure 
towards  sinning  brethren.  If  a  man  who  is  called 
a  Christian  be  a  fornicator.  Christian  fellowship 
must  be  withdrawn  from  him,  that  it  may  be 
brought  home  to  him  that  a  man  cannot  be  both  a 
Christian  and  a  fornicator.  But,  says  the  Apos- 
tle, I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  not  associate 
with  fornicators  of  the  world;  else  you  would 
need  to  remove  out  of  the  world — a  thing,  he  im- 
plies, which  would  be  manifestly  impossible;  and 
let  us  add,  for  the  leaven  which  is  placed  in  the 
world,  grossly  inconsistent  with  the  prosecution  of 
its  function  in  the  world,  which  is  to  leaven  the 
whole  mass.  And  if  we  will  scrutinize  our  pres- 
ent passage  closely  we  shall  quickly  see  that  the 
separation  which  the  Apostle  is  urging  here,  too, 
is  not  separation  from  men  but  from  evil — apply- 
ing, indeed,  to  the  Corinthians  in  the  way  of  ex- 
hortation what  our  Lord  prayed  for  in  behalf  of 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM        247 

His  followers,  not  that  they  should  be  taken  out 
of  the  world,  but  that  they  should  be  kept  from 
the  evil  of  the  world.  The  exhortation:  "Come 
ye  out  from  among  them  and  be  ye  separate, 
saith  the  Lord,"  is  immediately  followed  by  the 
explanation,  "And  touch  no  unclean  thing."  And 
the  whole  exhortation  closes  with  a  poignant 
prayer  that  they  may  "cleanse  themselves  from 
every  defilement."  It  is  not  from  their  fellow- 
men  that  the  Apostle  would  have  Christians  hold 
themselves  aloof;  it  is  from  the  sin  and  shame, 
the  evil  and  iniquity,  which  stains  and  soils  the 
lives  of  so  many  of  their  fellow-men.  This  is  the 
Apostolic  variety  of  Puritanism. 

The  opposite  impression  is  perhaps  fostered 
among  simple  Bible  readers  by  the  phrase  which 
stands  in  the  forefront  of  the  exhortation  in  our 
English  Bibles:  "Be  not  unequally  yoked  to- 
gether with  unbelievers."  This  certainly  appears 
at  first  sight  to  represent  any  commerce  with 
unbelievers  as  indecorous  and  to  forbid  it  on  that 
account.  This  impression  is  wholly  due,  however, 
to  the  awkwardness  of  the  rendering  given  to  an 
unusual  Greek  phrase.  This  Greek  phrase  is  an 
exceedingly  awkward  one  to  render;  and  I  am 
not  sure  that  it  is  possible  to  give  it  an  English 
equivalent  which  will  convey  its  exact  sense.  The 
figure  which  underlies  it  is,  no  doubt,  the  yoking 
together,  in  the  bizarre  way  of  the  East,  incon- 
gruous animals  for  labour,  say  an  ox  and  an  ass. 


248  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

And  the  English  version  is  a  very  creditable  effort 
to  bring  the  figure  home  to  the  English  reader; 
for  surely  such  a  yoking  of  incongruous  animals 
together  is  a  very  unequal  one.  Yet  the  English 
phrase  fails  to  express  the  exact  shade  of  meaning 
of  the  Greek  term.  This  does  not  say:  "Be  not 
unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers"  but 
rather,  "Become  not  bearers  of  an  alien  yoke 
along  with  unbelievers" — or,  in  other  words, 
"Take  not  on  yourselves  a  yoke  that  does  not  fit 
you,  in  order  to  be  with  unbelievers."  You  see 
the  point  is  very  different  from  that  which  is  often 
taken  from  the  English  phrase.  What  is  for- 
bidden is  not  that  we  should  company  with  un- 
believers; but  that  we  should  adopt  their  points 
of  view  and  their  modes  of  life.  It  is  a  question, 
in  other  words,  not  of  intercourse,  but  of  standards. 
What  the  Apostle  is  concerned  about  is  not  that 
his  converts  lived  in  social  communion  with  their 
heathen  neighbours;  this  he  would  have  them  do. 
What  he  is  concerned  about  is  that  they  took 
their  colour  from  the  heathen  neighbours  with 
whom  they  lived.  He  wished  them  to  be  leaven 
and  to  leaven  the  lump;  they  were  permitting 
themselves  rather  to  be  leavened ;  and  this  made 
him  indignant  with  them. 

We  see,  then,  that  the  Apostle's  urgency  here 
is  against  not  association  with  the  world,  but 
compromise  with  the  worldly.  Compromise!  In 
that  one  word  is  expressed  a  very  large  part  of  a 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM       249 

Christian's  danger  in  the  world.  We  see  it  on 
all  sides  of  us  and  in  every  sphere  of  life.  We 
must  be  all  things  to  all  men,  we  say,  perverting 
the  Apostle's  prescription  for  a  working  ministry; 
for  there  was  one  thing  he  would  on  no  account 
and  in  no  way  have  us  be,  even  that  we  may,  as 
we  foolishly  fancy,  win  the  more;  and  that  is, 
evil.  From  evil  in  all  its  forms  and  in  all  its  man- 
ifestations he  would  have  us  absolutely  to  separate 
ourselves ;  the  unclean  thing  is  the  thing  he  would 
in  no  circumstances  have  us  handle.  Associate 
with  the  world,  yes!  There  is  no  man  in  it  so  vile 
that  he  has  not  claims  upon  us  for  our  association 
and  for  our  aid.  But  adopt  the  standards  of  the 
world?  No!  Not  in  the  least  particular.  Here 
our  motto  must  be  and  that  unfailingly:  No 
compromise ! 

The  very  thing  which  the  Apostle  here  presses 
upon  our  apprehension  is  the  absolute  conflict  be- 
tween the  standards  of  the  world  and  the  standards 
of  Christians;  and  the  precise  thing  which  he  re- 
quires of  us  is  that  in  our  association  with  the 
world  we  shall  not  take  on  our  necks  the  alien 
yoke  of  an  unbeliever's  point  of  view,  of  an  un- 
believer's judgment  of  things,  of  an  unbeliever's 
estimate  of  the  right  and  wrong,  the  proper  and 
improper.  In  all  our  association  with  unbelievers, 
we,  as  Christian  men,  are  to  furnish  the  standard; 
and  we  are  to  stand  by  our  Christian  standard,  in 
the  smallest  particular,  unswervingly.     Any  de- 


250  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

parture  from  that  standard,  however  small  or 
however  desirable  it  may  seem,  is  treason  to  our 
Christianity.  We  must  not,  in  any  ease,  take  the 
alien  yoke  of  an  unbeliever's  scheme  of  life  upon 
our  necks. 

Interesting  to  us  as  this  exhortation  itself  is, 
and  important  beyond  expression  for  the  guidance 
of  our  lives,  it,  perhaps,  yields  in  interest  to  the 
grounding  which  the  Apostle  supplies  for  it  in  an 
explanation  of  the  essential  springs  of  a  Chris- 
tian's life.  This  grounding  he  gives  in  a  series  of 
rhetorical  questions,  by  means  of  which  he  sets 
forth  the  absolute  contrariety  of  the  Christian's 
and  the  unbeliever's  points  of  view,  sources  of 
judgment  and  principles  of  conduct.  The  order- 
ing of  these  questions  is  such  that  they  begin  by 
setting  over  against  one  another  the  obvious  con- 
tradictions of  righteousness  and  iniquity;  and 
then  proceed  in  a  series  of  rapid  and  convincing 
antitheses  until  they  end  in  setting  the  believer 
and  the  unbeliever  over  against  one  another  as 
the  embodiment  respectively — at  least  in  prin- 
ciple— of  those  contradictions,  righteousness  and 
iniquity.  "What  fellowship  have  righteousness 
and  iniquity,"  the  Apostle  demands  in  support  of 
his  exhortation  not  to  take  on  themselves  the 
alien  yoke  of  unbelievers,  "or,"  he  continues, 
"what  communion  has  light  with  darkness?  or 
what  concord  has  Christ  with  Belial.^  or  what 
portion  has  a  believer  with  an  unbeliever?  or — 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM       251 

clinching  the  whole  matter  with  a  reference  to  the 
source  of  the  entire  contrast — what  agreement  has 
a  temple  of  God  with  idols?" 

The  force  of  the  appeal  lies  in  the  necessary — 
and  inevitable — identification,  as  we  go  on  through 
the  series,  of  each  pair  with  the  preceding;  so 
that  with  the  fundamental  "righteousness"  is 
identified  the  light;  and,  of  course,  Christ;  and 
because  he  is  Christ's,  the  believer,  who  is  the 
temple  of  the  living  God:  and  with  the  funda- 
mental iniquity  is  identified  the  darkness,  Belial, 
and  the  unbeliever,  because  he  is  the  worshipper 
of  idols  and  partaker  of  the  idolatrous  point  of 
view.  The  reason,  then,  why  a  Christian  must 
not  take  on  himself  the  alien  yoke  of  unbelievers 
is  just  because  it  is  to  him  alien;  he  is  in  and  of 
himself,  because  a  believer  in  Christ  and,  there- 
fore, a  temple  of  the  living  God,  a  different,  a  con- 
trary, an  opposite  kind  of  being  from  the  unbe- 
liever; and  it  is,  therefore,  incongruous  in  the 
extreme  for  him  to  put  his  neck  in  the  same  yoke 
with  an  unbeliever,  seek  to  live  on  the  same  plane, 
or  consent  to  order  his  life  or  to  determine  ques- 
tions of  conduct  by  his  standards,  in  any  degree 
whatever. 

Now  it  is  just  in  this  contrast  drawn  by  the 
Apostle  between  the  believer  and  the  unbeliever — 
in  its  firmness,  its  clearness,  its  extremity  if  you 
will — that  we  discern  the  most  interesting,  the 
most  important,  teaching  of  our  passage.     Ac- 


252  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

cording  to  the  Apostle,  obviously,  there  are  two 
kinds  of  men  in  the  world,  believers  and  unbe- 
lievers. And  these  two  kinds  of  men  stand  over 
against  one  another  in  complete,  not  only  con- 
trast, but  contradiction;  as  complete  contra- 
diction as  righteousness  and  iniquity.  There  can 
be  no  compromise  between  them  any  more  than 
between  righteousness  and  iniquity.  There  may 
be  intercourse — mutual  action  and  reaction — but 
never  compromise. 

The  Apostle  is  far  from  saying,  of  course,  that 
in  any  given  individuals  this  fundamental  con- 
tradiction is  fully  manifested.  It  finds  its  com- 
plete manifestation  only  in  the  abstract — in  the 
contrariety  of  righteousness  and  iniquity;  and 
in  the  full  concrete  manifestation  of  righteousness 
and  iniquity  in  Christ  and  Belial.  Between 
Christians  and  unbelievers  the  manifested  con- 
tradiction is  only  relative.  Compromise  there 
ought  not  to  be — in  principle  there  can  not  be — 
but  compromise  in  fact  there  is.  Christians  are 
not,  like  Christ,  pure  embodiments  of  righteous- 
ness; they  require  exhortation  not  to  admit  in- 
iquity into  the  governing  principles  of  their  life. 
Alas,  alas,  though  they  are  temples  of  the  living 
God,  they  are  far,  far  from  having  no  commerce 
with  idols.  The  Apostle  recognizes  all  this.  On 
his  recognition  of  it  he  founds  the  urgent  exhorta- 
tion of  our  passage.  Nevertheless  he  founds  this 
exhortation  also  on  the  fact  that  this  contradic- 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM        253 

tion  exists  in  principle — that  Christians,  like 
Christ,  their  Lord,  are  in  principle  righteousness, 
and  that  unbelievers  are,  like  Belial,  their  lord, 
in  principle  iniquity.  It  is  because  Christians 
are  thus  in  principle  holy  and  unbelievers  are  thus 
in  principle  unholy  that  he  proclaims  that  it  is 
incongruous  that  Christians  should  adopt  their 
standards  of  life  from  unbelievers,  who  are  not 
merely  their  opposites  but  their  contradictories; 
so  that  there  can  be  no  mean  between  them  but 
every  one  must  be  one  or  the  other. 

There  are  then,  according  to  the  Apostle,  two 
kinds  of  men  in  the  world,  believers  and  unbe- 
lievers; and  these  two  kinds  of  men  stand  in  con- 
tradiction to  each  other.  One  may  conquer  and 
eliminate  the  other;  but  there  can  be  no  mixture 
between  them.  The  ultimate  source  of  the  fun- 
damental difference  between  them  he  finds  in  the 
indwelling  in  Christians  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  "Or 
what  agreement  hath  a  temple  of  God  with  idols  .^^ 
For  we'' — emphatic  here,  in  contrast  with  the  un- 
believers, "as  for  us,  we  are  a  temple  of  the  living 
God."  The  influx  of  the  Holy  Spirit  into  the 
heart  constitutes,  then,  a  new  humanity.  Over 
against  those  who  have  not  the  Spirit,  and  who 
are,  therefore,  as  another  Scripture  puts  it, 
earthly,  sensual,  devilish, — the  children  of  Belial,  as 
this  Scripture  suggests, — those  who  have  the  Spirit 
are  a  new  creation,  with  new  standards  and  new 
powers  of  life  alike.     There  can  be  no  compromise 


254  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

between  such  opposites.  It  has  become  custom- 
ary among  theologians  to  speak  of  these  two  kinds 
of  men  as  the  men  of  nature  and  the  men  of  the 
palingenesis;  or  as  it  is  now  becoming  fashionable 
to  call  them,  once  born  and  twice  born  men. 
They  who  are  born  of  the  flesh  are  fleshly;  and 
they  only  who  are  born  of  the  Spirit  are  spiritual; 
and  to  the  spiritual  man  belong  all  things.  The 
message  which  Paul  brings  to  us  in  this  passage  is, 
then,  that  we  who  are  spiritual,  because  we  are 
believers  in  Christ  Jesus,  have  in  principle  the 
righteousness  which  belongs  to  Him,  and  though 
it  may  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be,  we  must 
in  all  our  walk  comport  ourselves  as  what  we  are, 
the  temples  of  the  living  God,  having  the  powers 
and  potencies  of  a  new,  even  a  Divine,  hfe  within 
us.  The  ultimate  reason  why  the  Christian  man 
is  not  to  compromise  with  the  world  is,  because 
as  a  Christian  man,  he  is  a  new  creature,  born 
from  above,  with  the  vigour  of  the  Divine  life  itself 
moving  in  him  and  with  an  entirely  new  life- 
course  marked  out  for  him.  Why  should — ^how 
can — such  an  one  put  his  neck  incongruously 
within  the  yoke  of  worldly  policy  or  self-seeking, 
or  evil-living  with  unbelievers;  and  seek  to  de- 
flect his  Spirit-given  powers  to  a  life  on  this  lower 
plane  and  for  these  ignoble  ends.f^  O,  says  the 
Apostle,  O,  Christian  men,  this  is  surely  impos- 
sible to  you;  do  you  not  see  that  in  the  power  of 
your  new  life  you  are  to — ^you  must — take  an 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM       ^55 

utterly  new  course,  directed  to  a  new  goal,  and 
informed  with  new  aspirations,  hopes  and  striv- 
ings? 

On  the  basis  of  this  great  declaration  the  Apos- 
tle erects,  then,  his  exhortation.  Nor  is  he  con- 
tent to  leave  it  in  a  negative,  or  merely  inferential 
form.  In  the  accomplishment  of  the  Spirit-filled 
life  he  sees  the  goal,  and  he  speaks  it  out  in  a  final 
urgency  of  exhortation  into  which  he  compresses 
the  whole  matter:  "Having,  therefore,  such 
promises  as  these  (note  the  emphasis),  beloved," 
he  says,  "let  us  purify  ourselves  from  every  de- 
filement of  flesh  and  spirit  and  perfect  holiness  in 
the  fear  of  God."  It  is  perfection,  we  perceive, 
that  the  Apostle  is  after  for  his  followers;  and  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  raise  this  standard  before  the 
eyes  of  his  readers  as  their  greatest  incitement  to 
effort.  They  must  not  be  content  with  a  moder- 
ate attainment  in  the  Christian  life.  They  must 
not  say  to  themselves,  O,  I  guess  I  am  Christian 
enough,  although  I'm  not  too  good  to  do  as  other 
men  do.  They  must,  as  they  have  begun  in  the 
Spirit,  not  finish  in  the  flesh;  but  must  go  on  unto 
perfection. 

What  are  they  to  cleanse  themselves  from.^^ 
Every  defilement — every  kind  of  defilement — not 
only  of  the  flesh  but  of  the  spirit.  Aiming  at 
whsii?  At  the  completion  of  holiness  in  the  fear 
of  God !  The  Apostle  does  not  tell  them  they  are 
already    holy — except    in    principle.     They    ob- 


^56  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

viously  were  not  already  holy — except  in  princi- 
ple. They  were  putting  their  necks  in  the  alien 
yoke  of  unbelieving  judgments.  They  were  con- 
tenting themselves  with  heathen  standards.  They 
were  prepared  to  say,  O,  the  Lord  doesn't  ask 
all  that  of  us;  O,  there  is  nothing  wrong  in  this; 
O,  I  guess  it  will  be  enough  if  I  am  as  good  as  the 
average  man;  O,  you  can't  expect  me  to  live  at 
odds  with  all  my  neighbours ;  O,  these  things  are 
good  enough  for  me.  Such  compromises  with  the 
spirit  of  the  world  are  wrong;  and  the  Apostle 
tells  his  readers  plainly  that  they  are  unworthy  of 
them  as  Christian  men.  They  were,  if  not  born 
to  better  things,  yet  certainly  born  anew  to  better 
things.  Let  them  turn  their  backs  on  all  such  in- 
consistencies and  live  on  their  own  plane  of  life 
as  believers,  believers  in  Christ,  Christ  the  Light, 
Christ  our  Righteousness.  Let  them  remember 
they  are  temples  of  the  living  God  and  have  no 
commerce  with  idols. 

No,  they  were  not  perfect — except  in  principle. 
But  in  principle,  they  were  perfect;  because  they 
had  within  them  the  principle  of  perfection,  the 
Spirit  of  the  Most  High  God.  Let  them  walk  in 
accordance  with  their  privileges,  then,  on  a  level 
with  their  destiny.  Hear  God's  great  promise. 
And  having  these  promises,  cleanse  yourselves; 
O,  cleanse  yourselves,  the  Apostle  cries;  cleanse 
yourselves  from  every  defilement  whether  of  flesh 
or  spirit,  and  so  perfect — complete,  work  fully 


NEW  TESTAMENT  PURITANISM         257 

out  to  its  end — holiness  in  the  fear  of  God.  Let 
your  standard  be  the  hoHness  of  the  indwelHng 
Spirit  whose  temples  you  are.  Let  your  motive  be, 
not  merely  regard  to  the  good  of  others,  much  less 
to  your  own  happiness,  but  joy  in  God's  gracious 
promises.  Let  your  effort  be  perfect  sanctifica- 
tion  of  soul  and  body,  cleansing  from  all  defile- 
ment. Let  your  end  be,  pleasing  God,  the  Holy 
One.  In  a  word,  says  the  Apostle  in  effect,  here 
as  elsewhere:  O,  ye  Christians,  work  out  your 
own  salvation  in  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God 
who  is  working  in  you  the  willing  and  the  doing 
according  to  His  own  good  pleasure. 

We  perceive,  thus,  in  the  end  that  the  thing 
Paul  is  zealous  for  is  the  holiness  of  his  followers. 
For  in  their  holiness  he  sees  the  substance  of  their 
salvation.  We  are  saved  by  Christ  and  only 
Christ;  and  Christ  is  righteous;  both  for  us  and 
unto  us.  For  it  is  by  grace  that  we  are  saved, 
through  faith;  and  that  not  of  ourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God — not  out  of  works,  lest  we  should 
boast,  but  unto  good  works,  which  God  has  afore 
prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them.  And  if  we 
walk  not  in  them — are  we,  then,  saved  .^^  Holiness 
of  life  is,  I  repeat,  precisely  the  substance  of  sal- 
vation, that  which  we  are  saved  to,  that  in  which 
salvation  consists.  If  then  we  are  in  Christ  Jesus, 
shall  we  not  live  like  Christ  Jesus .^^  "If  we  are 
in  the  Spirit,  shall  we  not  walk  by  the  Spirit?" 
This  is  Paul's  final  exhortation  to  us;  since  we  are 


258  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Christ's,  and  the  Spirit  dwells  in  us  and  we  are 
the  temples  of  the  living  God,  let  us  be  careful  of 
good  works;  let  us,  remembering  the  great  prom- 
ises He  has  given  us,  cleanse  ourselves  from  all 
defilement  of  body  and  soul;  and  let  us  perfect 
holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,  so  that  we  approve 
ourselves  His  children  and  He  will  be  to  us  as  a 
Father  and  we  shall  be  to  Him  sons  and  daughters. 


PAUL'S  GREAT  THANKSGIVING 

Eph.  1 :3-14,  especially  3 — "Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  blessed  us  with  every  spiritual  blessing 
in  the  heavenly  places  in  Christ." 

If  we  would  know  how  Paul  felt  about  the  gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God,  by  which  he  was  saved, 
we  could  not  do  better  than  go  to  "the  great 
thanksgiving"  with  which  he  opens  the  epistle  to 
the  Ephesians.  The  epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is, 
of  course,  not  singular  in  beginning  with  a  thanks- 
giving to  God.  That  is  Paul's  customary  method 
of  beginning  his  letters.  But  it  is,  perhaps,  sin- 
gular in  the  marvellous  richness  and  fervor  of  the 
thanksgiving  with  which  it  begins.  And  this  is, 
perhaps,  due  to  what  we  might  have  thought  an 
entirely  unimportant  circumstance.  The  Apostle 
was  accustomed  to  draw  the  theme  of  his  thanks- 
giving from  the  special  conditions  and  attain- 
ments of  those  he  was  addressing.  But,  unlike 
his  other  letters,  this  was  addressed  neither  to  an 
individual  friend  and  fellow-worker,  nor  to  a 
separate  church  with  its  special  circumstances 
fresh  in  the  Apostle's  mind.  There  was  in  this 
case,  therefore,  no  particular  subject  of  thanks- 
giving, peculiar  to  the  person  or  church  ad- 
dressed, pressing  in  on  the  Apostle's  mind  and 
requiring    mention.     He    was    thrown    back    on 

259 


260  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

what  was  common  to  Christians  to  thank  God  for 
in  behalf  of  his  readers.  And  that  is  as  much  as 
to  say  he  was  thrown  back  on  the  great  funda- 
mental theme  of  the  Gospel.  Now,  Paul's  fervour 
always  rises  when  he  is  face  to  face  with  the  first 
principles  of  the  Gospel. 

What  Paul  returns  thanks  to  God  for  here,  is 
nothuig  less  than  the  salvation  in  Christ.  And 
with  what  magnificence  of  diction  as  well  as  depth 
of  feeling  and  comprehensiveness  of  view  he  deals 
with  it!  The  salvation  in  Christ  involves,  nat- 
urally, the  saving  action  of  the  whole  triune  God : 
and  it  is  easy  to  make  out  a  trinitarian  distinction 
in  the  parts  of  this  long  ascription  of  praise  to  God 
for  His  salvation.  Many  expositors  have,  there- 
fore, so  divided  it.  And  in  any  event  it  is  useful  to 
note  that  there  is  described  to  us  here  the  loving 
activity  of  God  the  Father  in  salvation  (in  verses 
3-6),  of  God  the  Son  (in  verses  7-12),  and  of  God 
the  Holy  Spirit  (in  verses  13-14).  This  successive 
adduction  of  the  work  of  the  persons  of  the  trin- 
ity in  salvation  would  seem,  however,  only  an  in- 
evitable incident  of  any  full  description  of  the 
process  of  salvation;  for  in  it  all  three  persons  of 
the  trinity  are,  of  course,  concerned.  And  it  is 
more  useful  to  us,  therefore,  as  an  indication  of  the 
place  which  the  doctrine  of  the  trinity  held  in 
the  mind  of  the  Apostle,  than  as  a  principle  of 
division  of  the  thanksgiving  before  us.  They 
gravely  err  who  imagine  that  the  trinity  is  only 


PAUL'S  GREAT  THANKSGIVING      261 

rarely  or  incidentally  alluded  to  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. On  the  contrary,  it  forms  the  underlying 
presupposition  of  the  entire  account  of  salvation 
given  in  the  New  Testament;  and  its  elements  are 
continually  cropping  out  in  the  New  Testament 
descriptions  of  the  saving  process.  It  lies  in  the 
very  nature  of  the  case,  therefore,  that  a  trini- 
tarian  suggestion  should  be  visible  through  this 
description  of  the  salvation  in  Christ. 

The  principle  of  arrangement  in  the  present 
instance  would  seem,  however,  to  be  what  we 
would  call  chronological,  rather  than  economical. 
We  would  seem  to  be  following  more  closely  the 
natural  lines  of  the  development  of  the  passage, 
if  we  note  that  Paul  traces  in  it  the  salvation  in 
Christ  for  which  he  blesses  God,  consecutively,  in 
its  preparation,  execution,  publication  and  appli- 
cation: in  its  preparation  (verses  4-5),  its  execu- 
tion (verses  6-7),  its  publication  (verses  8-10), 
and  its  application  (verses  11-16),  both  to  Jews 
(verses  11-12)  and  to  Gentiles  (verses  13-14). 
Thus  he  brings  before  us  the  whole  ideal  history 
of  the  salvation  in  Christ,  from  eternity  to  eter- 
nity— from  the  eternal  purpose  as  it  formed  itself 
in  the  loving  heart  of  the  Father,  to  the  eternal 
consummation  when  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth 
shall  be  summed  up  in  Christ  as  under  one  head, 
and  He  shall  be  ready  to  restore  the  now  perfected 
kingdom  to  the  Father,  that  God  may  again  be  all 
in  all.     So  looked  upon,  this  splendid  passage  ex- 


262  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

hibits  lucidly  its  true  character  as  a  compressed 
history  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world — an 
apostolic  precis  of  human  history  conceived  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  Divine  activity  in  the  es- 
tablishment and  development  and  consummation 
of  the  kingdom. 

Let  us  observe  how  the  contemplation  of  the 
unrolling  of  this  great  historical  process  affects 
the  Apostle's  own  mind  and  heart.  This  is  re- 
vealed to  us  in  the  intense  fervour  that  informs  the 
whole  passage — which  is  not  a  measured  expres- 
sion of  the  Apostle's  thanks  to  God,  but  can  be 
literally  described  as  an  inextinguishable  burst 
of  praise.  Its  keynote  is  struck  in  the  opening 
word — "Blessed!"  Note  the  reiteration  of  the 
term:  ''Blessed  be  God  who  hath  blessed  us  with 
every  spiritual  blessing!"  It  is  easy  to  perceive 
where  Paul's  mind  and  heart  were  when  he  was 
writing  down  these  words.  When  a  man's  lips 
can  frame  only  this  one  word — "Blessing,  bless- 
ing, blessing!"  we  know  what  is  in  his  heart. 
We  should  not  fail  to  observe  the  ingenious,  and 
more  than  ingenious,  for  it  is  the  ingenuity  of  the 
heart,  correlation  of  the  term  "Blessed"  here,  as 
applied  to  God,  with  the  same  term  as  applied  to 
man.  Paul  blesses  God  because  God  has  so  highly 
blessed  man:  only,  God  blesses  with  deeds  while 
man  can  bless  Him  only  with  words.  But  the 
thing  to  be  especially  observed  is  the  joyful  grat- 
itude, the  delighted  wonder,  the  swelling  praise 


PAUL^  GREAT  THANKSGIVING        263 

that  fills  the  Apostle's  heart,  as  he  contemplates 
what  man  has  received  in  the  salvation  of  Christ. 
He  thinks  and  speaks  of  it  as  summing  up  in 
itself  every  conceivable  good.  Blessed  be  God! 
he  cries.  Why?  Because  He  hath  blessed  us! 
How.?  With  every  possible  blessing!  For  that 
is  what  this  outburst  of  praise  means.  Every 
conceivable  blessing,  says  Paul,  is  poured  out  on 
us  in  the  salvation  in  Christ.  And  the  form  of 
the  language  shows  that  he  means  this  to  the  utter- 
most. 

As  the  Apostle  goes  on  to  describe  the  blessings 
received  in  the  salvation  in  Christ,  it  would  almost 
seem  as  if  his  pen  had  run  away  with  him.  Only 
it  is  not  a  matter  of  the  pen,  but  of  the  heart:  it 
is  not  a  question  of  words,  but  of  the  feelings.  But 
it  must  needs  be  confessed  that  the  Apostle  has 
so  accumulated  phrases  at  this  point  in  the  fervour 
of  his  emotions  of  gratitude  and  praise  that  it  is 
very  diflficult  to  follow  him  in  his  heaped-up 
epithets.  He  is  not  content  to  say  that  in  the 
salvation  in  Christ,  God  has  blessed  us  with 
"every  kind  of  blessing."  He  adds  two  further 
characterizations  which  seem  to  pile  Pelion  on 
Ossa  and  which  distress  us  as  we  unavailingly 
strive  to  rise  to  the  height  of  the  great  argument. 
"Blessed  be  God,"  he  cries,  "who  hath  blessed 
us — in  every  kind  of  spiritual  blessing — in  the 
heavenlies — in  Christ."  What  are  we  to  make  of 
this  chain  of  threefold  enhancement? 


264  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

No  wonder  the  commentators  are  divided  as 
to  how  the  successive  clauses  are  to  be  related  to 
one  another.  When  the  heart  speaks,  there  is 
such  a  fullness  of  meaning  that  the  analyzing 
.understanding  stands  sometimes  aghast  at  the 
task  set  it.  Are  we,  it  asks,  to  take  these  clauses 
in  one  continuous  string,  each  qualifying  the  im- 
mediately preceding?  Or,  are  we  to  take  them 
as  parallel  to  one  another,  each  further  explaining, 
in  the  light  of  the  preceding,  the  one  matter  of  the 
nature  of  the  blessing  adverted  to?  In  other 
words,  is  this  what  Paul  praises  God  for — "that 
He  has  blessed  us  in  the  salvation  in  Christ  with 
every  kind  of  Spirit-given  blessing  that  is  in  the 
heavenly  places  in  Christ":  so  that  he  affirms 
that  all  the  blessings  that  heaven  contains  are 
poured  out  on  us  by  the  Spirit,  nay,  that  all  the 
blessings  deposited  in  Christ,  Christ  the  exalted 
Conqueror  of  sin  and  death,  seated  now  in  heaven, 
clothed  with  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  in  be- 
half of  His  people,  His  body.  His  church,  are  lav- 
ished on  us  by  His  Spirit  sent  forth  to  minister  to 
the  heirs  of  salvation?  Or  is  it  rather  this  that 
the  Apostle  praises  God  for — "that  He  has  blessed 
us  with  every  possible  kind  of  blessing  that  is 
given  by  the  Spirit  of  God — that  is  to  say  with 
specifically  heavenly  things,  supernatural  things, 
those  precious  heaven-born  gifts  which  are  so 
much  greater  and  more  to  be  desired  than  any 
earthly  things — that  is  to  say,  rather,  with  Christ 


PAUL'S  GREAT  THANKSGIVING        ^5 

himself,  in  whom  are  hidden  not  only  all  the 
treasures  of  knowledge  and  wisdom,  but  of  blessing 
as  well,  and  who  is  Himself  so  much  greater  than 
all  His  gifts  that  in  Him  are  summed  up  all  and 
more  than  all  that  we  can  mean  by  every  kind  of 
blessing"?  One  or  the  other  of  these  things  is 
what  Paul  seems  to  have  meant.  It  is  hard  to 
say  which:  and  it  is  probable  that  expositors  will 
always  differ  as  to  which. 

It  does  not  seem  to  be  of  much  importance,  to 
be  sure,  after  which  fashion  we  analyze  this  great 
utterance  of  a  full  heart.  For  in  either  case,  has 
not  Paul  said  everything  that  could  be  said,  to 
declare  the  blessing  that  has  come  to  men  in  the 
salvation  in  Christ  the  supremest  blessing  man 
can  conceive,  nay,  as  "what  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor 
ear  heard,  and  what  hath  entered  not  into  the 
heart  of  man,  what  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him.^^"  As  he  permits  what  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him  to  display  itself 
before  his  astonished  eyes,  Paul  is  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  the  blessing  it  brings  to  sin-laden 
men.  What  wonder  if  we  are  overwhelmed  with 
his  description  of  what  he  saw!  What  God  has 
prepared  for  them  that  love  Him !  Ah !  here  is  the 
key-note  of  the  passage.  It  is  all  of  God.  It  is 
not  of  our  deserving :  it  is  not  of  our  doing.  It  is 
all  of  God.  It  is,  therefore,  that  Paul  blessed 
God  for  it  all  with  such  fervour  of  language.  Were 
it  of  man,  in  any  of  its  items,  so  far  the  voice  of 


266  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

his  praise  would  be  stilled.  And  it  is,  therefore, 
that  he  simply  sows  his  expressions  of  grateful 
praise  with  asseverations  of  the  origin  of  all  our 
blessings  in  Christ  in  God's  gracious  purpose,  and 
with  acclamations  of  praise  to  Him  alone  for  its 
gift.  The  fundamental  note  in  all  Paul's  praise  is 
the  note  of  "soli  Deo  gloria."  All  that  comes  to 
man  in  this  salvation  is  of  the  grace  of  God  alone, 
a  grace  prepared  of  God  in  eternity  past,  poured 
out  on  us  now  in  the  sovereign  work  of  the  Spirit, 
and  to  abide  on  us  to  the  eternities  to  come  in  ac- 
cordance with  His  gracious  purpose — all  to  the 
praise  of  the  glory  of  His  grace.  It  is  for  this 
cause,  says  the  Apostle,  that  when  he  heard  that 
his  readers  now  believed  in  Christ,  he  turned  his 
eyes  in  thanksgiving  to  God — ^because  to  believe 
in  Christ  is  of  God,  and  he  that  believes  in  Christ 
is  in  the  hands  of  His  unutterable  grace.  It  is 
obviously  only  another  way  of  saying  that  "if 
God  be  for  us,  there  is  none  who  can  be  against 
us."  And  it  is  this  thought  that  moves  the  Apos- 
tle with  the  deepest  emotion  of  praise. 


SPIRITUAL  STRENGTHENING 

Eph.  3:14-19,  especially  16: — "That  he  would  grant  you,  accord- 
ing to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  that  ye  may  be  strengthened  with 
power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man." 

This  certainly  may  be  fairly  called  one  of  the 
great  passages  of  the  Bible.  Note  the  series  of 
great  topics  which  are  adverted  to  in  it:  the  in- 
ward strengthening  of  the  children  of  God  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  continual  abiding  of  Christ  in 
their  hearts,  their  rooting  and  grounding  in  love, 
their  enlargement  in  spiritual  apprehension,  even 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  unknowable,  their  filling 
with  all  the  fullness  of  God.  Surely  here  is  a  cat- 
alogue of  great  things  for  God's  people!  These 
great  topics  do  not  lie  on  one  level,  however,  set 
side  by  side  as  parallel  facts,  but  are  exhibited 
in  special  relations  the  one  to  the  other.  Paul  is 
praying  here  for  these  high  blessings  to  descend 
on  the  Ephesian  Christians.  But  he  does  not 
pray  for  them  simply  as  a  bunch  of  blessings,  arbi- 
trarily selected  to  be  on  this  occasion  sought  at 
the  great  Father's  hands — the  Father  of  these 
Ephesian  Christians  too,  because  He  is  the  God 
of  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  of  the  Jews,  and  from 
Him  every  fatherdom  derives  its  name.  Here  are 
rather  a  connected  body  of  blessings  which  go 
naturally  together:  one  being  the  ground  and  an- 

267 


268  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

other  the  effect  of  the  one  great  thing  he  craves 
for  his  readers. 

The  central  thing  he  prays  for  is  spiritual 
strengthening.  "I  bow  my  knees  to  the  Father 
that  He  may  give  to  you  to  be  strengthened  by 
His  Spirit  in  respect  to  the  inner  man."  Spiritual 
strengthening,  then,  that  is  the  main  thing  that 
he  prays  for.  By  the  mere  term  "spiritual 
strengthening"  two  things  might  be  suggested  to 
us.  We  might  think  of  spiritual  as  distinguished 
from  physical  strengthening.  Or  we  might  think 
of  strengthening  by  the  Spirit  as  distinguished 
from  some  earthly  agency.  The  Apostle's  prayer 
includes  both  ideas.  He  prays  that  we  may  be 
strengthened  in  the  inner  man;  that  is,  for  the 
strengthening  of  our  spirit,  in  distinction  from  the 
body.  And  he  prays  that  we  may  be  strength- 
ened with  respect  to  the  inner  man  by  God's 
Spirit;  that  is,  for  the  Divine  strengthening  of  our 
inward  man.  And  this,  I  say,  is  the  substance  of 
his  prayer — that  we  may  be  strengthened  with 
respect  to  the  inner  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God. 
All  else  is  descriptive  of  this  and  tells  us  what  it  is, 
and  what  it  results  in ;  and  so  enhanees  our  idea  of 
what  spiritual  strengthening  is. 

First,  Paul  tells  us  somewhat  further  what  it  is. 
It  is  identical,  he  tells  us,  with  the  abiding  of 
Christ  by  faith  in  our  hearts.  Of  course  it  is  not 
absolutely  certain  what  the  relation  of  this  second 
clause  is  to  its  predecessor.     It  might  express  the 


SPIRITUAL  STRENGTHENING        269 

aim  or  end  of  the  spiritual  strengthening,  or  (what 
comes  to  practically  the  same  thing)  its  result,  as 
well  as  (as  we  should  take  it),  its  more  precise  ex- 
planation. As  it  is  followed  by  a  series  of  ex- 
pressly telic  clauses,  formally  introduced  by  the 
proper  telic  particle,  it  would  seem  most  natural 
to  take  it  as  epexegetical  of  the  preceding  clause. 
"I  bow  my  knees  to  the  Father,  .  .  .  that  He  may 
give  to  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  His  glory, 
to  be  strengthened  with  might  as  to  the  inner 
man — to  wit,  that  Christ  may  abide  in  your 
hearts  by  faith."  To  be  sure,  the  sense  would  not 
be  essentially  different  if  we  took  it  otherwise — ^to 
the  end  that,  or  so  that,  Christ  may  abide  in  your 
hearts  by  faith.  In  the  one  case  it  tells  what  the 
spiritual  strengthening  consists  in — ^it  is  identical 
with  the  abiding  of  Christ  in  the  heart;  in  the  other, 
what  it  eventuates  in, — it  issues  in  the  abiding 
of  Christ  in  the  heart.  In  either  case  the  thing  to 
be  noted  is  that  it  is  not  the  coming  of  Christ  into 
the  heart  that  is  spoken  of,  but  His  abiding  in  the 
heart;  and  that  it  is  just  this  idea  that  receives 
the  emphasis  in  the  sentence,  the  position  of  the 
words  being  such  as  to  throw  a  strong  stress  on 
"abiding." 

Two  things  result  from  this.  The  first  is,  that 
Christ  is  supposed  to  have  already  entered  the 
hearts  of  those  whom  the  Apostle  is  praying  for. 
It  is  not  a  question  of  His  coming  but  of  His  abid- 
ing.    The  Apostle  is  not  praying  that  his  readers 


270  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

should  be  converted;  but,  presuming  their  con- 
version, that  they  may  be  spiritually  strengthened. 
The  second  result  is  that  the  spiritual  strength- 
ening is  contingent  on,  or  let  us  rather  say,  is 
dependent  on  the  abiding  presence  of  Christ  in 
their  hearts.  The  indwelling  Christ  is  the  source 
of  the  Christian's  spiritual  strength.  This  is,  of 
com-se,  not  to  set  aside  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  he 
has  read  his  New  Testament  to  little  purpose  who 
would  separate  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Christ: 
Christ  abides  in  the  heart  by  the  Spirit.  The 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  means  of 
the  indwelling  of  Christ  and  the  two  are  one  and 
the  same  great  fact.  We  are  strengthened  in  the 
inner  man  with  might  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  be- 
cause by  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts, 
Christ  abides  there — thus  and  not  otherwise. 
And  here  we  learn  then  the  source  of  the  Chris- 
tian's strength.  Christ  is  the  ultimate  source. 
His  indwelling  is  the  ground  of  all  our  strength. 
But  it  is  only  by  the  Spirit — the  executive  of  the 
Godhead  in  this  sphere  too — that  Christ  dwells  in 
the  heart.  It  is  the  Spirit  that  strengthens  us, 
and  He  so  strengthens  us  that  He  gives  us 
"might"  in  our  inner  man.  The  way  He  does 
this  is  by  forming  Christ  within  us. 

The  Apostle  is  one  of  the  most  fecund  writers 
extant,  and  thus  it  happens  that  he  does  not  leave 
the  matter  even  there.  It  is  by  the  Spirit  that 
Christ  dwells  in  us — that  is  the  objective  fact. 


SPIRITUAL  STRENGTHENING  271 

But  there  is  a  subjective  fact  too,  and  the  Apos- 
tle does  not  fail  to  touch  it — it  is  by  our  faith, 
too,  that  Christ  dwells  in  us.  "That  Christ  may 
abide  in  your  hearts  by  your  faith,"  he  says.  He 
does  not  say  "by  faith"  merely,  though  he  might 
well  have  said  that,  and  it  would  have  covered  the 
whole  necessary  idea.  But,  in  his  habitual  full- 
ness of  expression,  he  puts  in  the  article,  and  thus 
implies  that  he  recognizes  their  faith  as  already 
existent.  They  are  Christians,  they  already  be- 
lieve, Christ  is  already  dwelling  in  them  by  faith; 
he  prays  that  He  may  abide  in  them  by  their 
faith.  The  stress  is  everywhere  laid  on  contin- 
uance. May  God  strengthen  your  inner  man,  he 
says,  by  His  Spirit.  That  is  to  say,  he  adds,  may 
that  Christ  whom  ye  have  received  into  your 
hearts  by  faith  abide  continuously  in  your  hearts 
by  that  faith  of  yours.  As  much  as  to  say,  Christ 
is  brought  into  your  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  abides  there  by  that  Holy  Ghost.  May  God 
thus  continually  strengthen  your  hearts  by  His 
Spirit,  and  that,  even  with  might.  I  pray  to  Him 
for  it,  for  it  is  He  that  gives  it.  But  do  not  think, 
therefore,  that  you  may  lose  hold  on  Christ.  It 
is  equally  true  that  He  abides  in  your  hearts  by 
your  faith.  When  faith  fails,  so  do  the  signs  of 
His  presence  within:  the  strengthening  of  the 
Spirit  and  the  steady  burning  of  the  flame  of 
faith  are  correlative.  As  well  expect  the  ther- 
mometer   to    stand    still    with    the    temperature 


272  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

varying  as  the  height  of  your  faith  not  to  index 
the  degree  of  your  strength.  Your  strength  is 
grounded  in  the  indwelhng  Christ,  wrought  by 
the  Spirit  by  means  of  faith. 

Thus  we  have  laid  before  us  the  sources  of  the 
Christian's  strength.  It  is  rooted  in  Christ,  the 
Christ  within  us,  abiding  there  by  virtue  of  the 
Spirit's  action  quickening  and  upholding  faith  in 
us.  And  only  as  by  the  Spirit  our  faith  is  kept 
firm  and  clear,  will  Christ  abide  in  us,  and  will 
we  accordingly  be  strong  in  the  inner  man. 

Such  then  is  the  nature  and  source  of  the  Chris- 
tian's strengthening.  What  does  it  issue  in.^ 
How  does  it  exhibit  itself.?  Briefly,  the  Apostle 
tells  us,  in  love  and  knowledge.  "May  God 
grant  you,"  he  says,  "to  be  strengthened  as  to 
the  inner  man  by  His  Spirit,  that  is,  the  abiding 
presence  of  Christ  in  your  hearts,  to  the  end  that 
being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  you  may  be 
fully  enabled  to  apprehend.  ..."  The  end  of 
the  prayer  is,  then,  expansion  of  spiritual  appre- 
hension. May  God  grant  that  you  may  be 
strengthened  with  might  ...  to  the  end  that  you 
may  be  full  of  strength  to  apprehend.  The  ap- 
propriate result  of  strengthening  is  that  they  may 
have  full  strength.  The  Apostle  accumulates 
words  expressive  of  strength  to  enhance  the  idea. 
He  uses  three  separate  words,  but  all  impinging 
on  the  one  idea,  that  he  wishes  his  readers  by 
the  Holy  Spirit's  operations  to  be  raised  to  the 


SPIRITUAL  STRENGTHENING  273 

capacity  of  spiritual  apprehension  indicated. 
"God  grant  that  ye  may  be  empowered  (relative 
and  manifested  power)  with  might  (inherent 
general  power),  with  which  ye  may  have  full 
strength  (as  your  own  endowment)  to  appre- 
hend. ..."  This  then  is  the  proximate  end  of  the 
prayer:  Expansion  of  heart  for  the  apprehension 
of  spiritual  things.  "God  grant  that  you  may  be 
strengthened  with  might  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
the  inner  man,  that  you  may  have  full  strength 
to  apprehend.  ..."  These  things  to  be  appre- 
hended are  too  great  for  man's  natural  powers 
He  must  have  new  strength  from  on  high  given 
him  to  compass  them.  He  may  by  the  Spirit  be 
raised  to  a  higher  potency  of  apprehension  for 
them.     God  grant  it  to  you ! 

What  are  these  things  .^^  The  Apostle  speaks 
quite  generally  about  them.  He  says  "that  ye 
may  have  full  strength  to  apprehend  with  all  the 
saints,  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height 
and  depth.  ..."  His  mind  is  for  the  moment 
not  on  the  thing  itself  but  on  the  bigness  of  the 
thing.  It  is  because  the  thing  is  so  big  that  they 
need  strengthening  in  the  inner  man  before  they 
have  full  strength  to  apprehend  it.  Yet  it  is  not 
something  for  these  special  readers  alone,  but  for 
all  Christians.  This  strengthening  the  Apostle 
asks  for  is  the  heritage  of  the  saints.  The  Apostle 
prays  not  that  we  may  be  expanded  in  spiritual 
apprehension  by   these  great  ideas,   but  up  to 


274  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

them.  This  expanding  is  not  to  be  done  by  them, 
but  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  To  enhance  our  con- 
ception of  how  big  they  are,  he  gives  us  a  sample, — 
for  that  the  last  clause  here  is  not  adjoined  as  a 
parallel  but  as  a  subordinate  clause  seems  indi- 
cated by  the  particle  by  which  it  is  adjoined  and 
as  well  by  the  concluding  words  "unto  the  whole 
fullness  of  God,"  which  appear  to  return  to  a 
quite  general  idea :  that  ye  may  have  full  strength 
to  apprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth 
and  length  and  height  and  depth  and  to  know  the 
"knowledge-surpassing  love  of  Christ." 

Here  is  a  sample  of  the  broad  and  wide  and  high 
and  deep  knowledge  to  apprehend  which  we  need 
to  have  our  minds  stretched:  the  quality  of  the 
love  of  Christ.  It  is  too  high  for  us;  we  cannot 
attain  unto  it.  Do  we  wonder  that  the  thing  the 
Apostle  prays  for  is  that  we  should  be  strength- 
ened in  the  inner  man  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  that 
we  may  have  full  strength  to  apprehend  this? 
Do  we  wonder  that  he  speaks  of  this  and  such 
knowledge  as  too  broad  and  wide  and  high  and 
deep  for  us,  not  to  be  apprehended  save  by  him 
in  whose  heart  Christ  abides?  If,  indeed,  Christ 
be  in  us — then,  possibly,  we  may  know  Christ 
without  us.  But  surely  in  no  other  way.  Here 
then  is  the  gist  of  the  matter,  as  to  the  end  of  our 
strengthening  in  the  inner  man.  It  is  to  give  us 
full  strength  for  the  apprehension  of  these  great 
and  incomparable  mysteries  of  our  faith. 


SPIRITUAL  STRENGTHENING  275 

But  in  that  fullness  of  the  Apostolic  speech 
to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  Paul  does  not 
content  himself  with  simply  saying  this.  He  so 
says  it  as  both  to  suggest  an  intermediate  step 
in  the  attainment  of  this  large  spiritual  appre- 
hension, and  to  indicate  a  still  higher  goal.  He 
suggests,  I  say,  an  intermediate  step.  He  does 
not  say  simply,  "  God  grant  you  spiritual  strength- 
ening, that  you  may  have  enlarged  spiritual  ap- 
prehension." He  says,  "God  grant  you  spiritual 
strengthening  that,  having  been  rooted  and 
grounded  in  love,  you  may  have  enlarged  spiritual 
apprehension."  Here  then  is  an  intermediate 
link  between  the  strengthening  by  the  Spirit  and 
the  enlargement  of  our  spiritual  understanding. 
It  is  "love."  The  proximate  effect  of  the  Spirit's 
work  in  empowering  the  inner  man  with  might  is 
not  knowledge  but  love;  and  the  proximate  cause 
of  our  enlarged  spiritual  apprehension  is  not  the 
strengthening  of  our  inner  man,  but  love.  The 
Spirit  does  not  immediately  work  this  enlargement 
of  mind  in  us;  He  immediately  works  love,  and 
only  through  working  this  love,  enlarges  our  ap- 
prehension. The  Holy  Ghost  "sheds  love  abroad 
in  our  hearts."  Love  is  the  great  enlarger.  It  is 
love  which  stretches  the  intellect.  He  who  is 
not  filled  with  love  is  necessarily  small,  withered, 
shrivelled  in  his  outlook  on  life  and  things.  And 
conversely  he  who  is  filled  with  love  is  large  and 
copious  in  his  apprehensions,     Only  he  can  ap- 


276  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

prehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and 
length  and  height  and  depth  of  things.  The 
order  of  things  in  spiritual  strengthening  is  there- 
fore: (1)  the  working  by  the  Spirit  of  a  true  faith 
in  the  heart,  and  the  cherishing  by  the  Spirit  of 
this  faith  in  a  constant  flame;  (2)  the  abiding  of 
Christ  by  this  faith  in  the  heart;  (3)  the  shedding 
abroad  of  love  in  the  soul  and  its  firm  rooting  in 
the  heart;  (4)  the  enlargement  of  the  spiritual 
apprehension  to  know  the  unknowable  greatness 
of  the  things  of  Christ. 

There  is  yet  one  further  step,  for  even  this  spir- 
itual apprehension  is  not  its  own  end.  "God 
grant,"  says  the  Apostle,  "that  you  may  be  em- 
powered with  might  by  the  Spirit,  so  to  have 
full  strength  to  apprehend  the  great  things  of 
God" — but  he  does  not  stop  there.  He  adds  "to 
the  end  that  you  may  be  filled  unto  the  whole  full- 
ness of  God."  Here  is  the  goal  at  last.  And 
what  a  goal  it  is!  We  were  weak — ^for  it  was 
"when  we  were  without  strength"  that  Christ 
died  for  us.  We  are  to  be  strengthened,  strength- 
ened by  the  Spirit,  by  means  of  the  constant  in- 
dwelling of  Christ,  the  source  of  all  good.  We  are 
to  be  strengthened  so  as  to  know,  to  know  the 
great  things  of  God  (read  some  of  them  in  the 
parallel  passage.  Col.  1 :11).  But  not  that  we  may 
know  for  the  mere  sake  of  knowing.  What  good 
would  such  a  bare  knowing  do  us?  We  are  to 
know  that  we  may  be  "filled  unto  all  the  full- 


SPIRITUAL   STRENGTHENING  277 

ness  of  God."  Look  at  this  standard  of  fullness. 
"Unto" — not  "with" — it  is  the  standard,  not  the 
material.  God's  fullness  is  not  to  be  poured  into 
us;  we  are  to  be  raised  toward  that  standard  of 
fullness,  not  in  one  particular  but  in  all — unto  the 
whole  fullness  of  God.  It  may  mean  unto  the 
fullness  which  God  possesses;  or  it  may  mean 
unto  the  fullness  which  He  provides.  It  may 
mean  either  that  the  enlargement  of  our  spiritual 
apprehension  is  a  means  toward  obtaining  all 
the  wonderful  goods  that  God  has  in  store  for  us; 
or  it  may  mean  that  by  it  we  shall  be  brought  to  a 
height  of  attainment  comparable  only  to  His  at- 
tainments. No  matter  which  it  means.  It  is 
enough  in  either  meaning  for  any  Christian's  hope. 
But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  does  mean 
the  greatest  thing:  we  shall  be  filled  unto  the 
whole  fullness  of  God.  We  shall  be  like  Him, 
and  like  Him  only  of  all  Beings  in  the  universe. 
It  is  a  giddy  height  to  which  our  eyes  are  thus 
raised.  No  wonder  we  need  spiritual  strength- 
ening to  discern  the  summit  of  this  peak  of 
promise. 

Of  course  it  does  not  mean  that  we  are  to  be 
transmuted  into  God,  so  that  each  of  us  will  be 
able  to  assert  a  right  to  a  place  of  equality  in  the 
universe  with  God.  Of  course,  again,  it  does  not 
mean  that  God  is  to  be  transfused  into  us,  so  that 
we  shall  be  God,  part  of  His  very  essence.  It 
means  just  what  it  says,  that  God  presents  the 


278  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

standard  towards  which  we,  Christian  men,  are  to 
be  assimilated.  We  are  to  be  made  like  Him, 
holy  as  He  is  holy,  pure  as  He  is  pure.  Our  eyes, 
even  in  the  depths  of  eternity,  will  seek  Him  tow- 
ering eternally  above  us  as  our  unattainable 
standard  towards  which  we  shall  ever  be  as- 
cending, but  we  shall  be  like  Him;  He  and  we 
shall  belong  to  one  class,  the  class  of  holy  beings. 
We  shall  no  longer  be  like  the  Devil,  whose  chil- 
dren we  were  until  we  were  delivered  from  his 
kingdom  and  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  God's 
dear  Son.  No  more  shall  we  be  what  we  were  as 
men  in  this  world,  still  separated  from  God  by  a 
gulf  of  moral  difference,  a  difference  so  great  that 
we  are  almost  tempted  to  call  it  a  difference  of 
kind  and  not  merely  of  degree.  Nay,  we  shall, 
perhaps,  be  more  like  God  than  even  the  holy 
angels  are;  in  our  head,  Christ  Jesus,  we  shall  be 
in  Him  who  in  a  pre-eminent  sense  is  like  God. 
The  process  of  the  "filling"  may  take  long;  it  is 
but  barely  begun  for  most  of  us  in  this  life;  but 
that  is  the  standard  and  that  the  goal — "we  shall 
be  filled  unto  the  fullness  of  God";  and  it  shall 
never  cease.  Such  is  the  goal  of  the  spiritual 
strengthening  spoken  of  in  our  text. 


THE  FULLNESS  OF  GOD 

Eph.  3:14-19,  especially  v.  19:— "That  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all 
the  fullness  of  God." 

The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  the  poem  among 
the  Epistles.  Its  whole  fabric  is  wrought  in  a 
grandeur  of  language,  corresponding  to  the  lofti- 
ness of  its  thought.  The  main  subject  of  the 
Epistle  is  God's  infinite  and  unspeakable  mercy  to 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  Apostle  busies  himself  with 
two  chief  ends.  These  are  (1)  to  beget  in  his 
readers  an  adequate  sense  of  the  immensity  of 
their  privilege,  in  the  mercy  of  God,  in  that  He 
has  chosen  them  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world,  redeemed  them  in  Christ  and  called  them 
by  the  Spirit  out  of  their  former  Gentile  darkness 
and  alienation  to  be  sharers  in  the  glorious  fight 
of  the  Gospel,  and  to  be  admitted  into  the  very 
household  of  God;  and  (2)  to  quicken  them  to  a 
proper  apprehension  of  the  duties  that  grow  out 
of  their  changed  relation  and  life. 

The  noble  prayer  of  the  Apostle's,  which  the 
present  passage  constitutes,  stands  at  the  end 
of  the  first  section  of  the  letter.  Li  that  section 
he  has  described  in  the  most  lofty  and  glowing  lan- 
guage the  privileges  which  have  been  so  freely 
granted  his  readers  by  God,  in  Christ.  That 
section  had  been,  it  is  true,  closed  at  the  end  of 

279 


280  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  second  chapter;  and  the  Apostle  begins  the 
third  chapter  with  a  clause  meant  to  make  the 
transition  to  the*  second  subject  that  weighed  on 
his  heart,  the  duties,  arising  from  their  very  con- 
dition, pressing  upon  his  readers.  But  he  has  no 
sooner  begun  the  transition  than  he  interrupts 
himself  to  give  expression  to  a  thought  which 
struggled  within  him  for  utterance,  concerning 
the  relation  of  his  own  apostleship  to  the  announce- 
ment of  God's  unsearchable  riches  to  the  Gentiles. 
Having  unburdened  his  soul  with  praise  to  God 
for  calling  him  to  be  the  instrument  in  His  hands 
for  working  out  this  glorious  broadening  of  the 
boundaries  of  His  Church,  he  resumes  the  sen- 
tence that  had  been  broken  off  and  makes  the 
transition  to  the  declaration  of  the  duties  of  his 
readers,  once  more  resumed,  by  means  of  a  fer- 
vent prayer  to  God  for  their  perfection  in  the 
Christian  life. 

This  prayer  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  pas- 
sages ever  penned  even  by  this  wonderful  Apostle. 
Look  at  it  in  its  parts. 

First,  we  observe  to  whom  the  prayer  is  offered. 
It  is  to  "the  Father,"  name  of  love  and  gratitude. 
But  note  how  the  Apostle  expresses  his  sense  of 
what  this  word  "Father"  means  when  applied  to 
the  all-merciful  and  all-glorious  God.  He  calls 
Him  not  merely  "the  Father"  but  "the  Father 
from  whom  every  fatherhood  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  named."     His  is  not  a  figurative  fatherhood; 


THE  FULLNESS  OF  GOD  281 

He  is  not  addressed  as  Father  because  we  find 
some  things  in  Him  which  remind  us  of  the  ten- 
derness and  love  of  our  parents  and  so  apply  to 
Him,  as  in  a  figure,  the  name  we  have  learned  to 
love  in  them.  On  the  contrary,  His  is  the  normal 
fatherhood;  His  is  not  derived  by  figure  from 
theirs,  but  theirs  is  the  poor  and  broken  shadow 
of  His.  He  is  the  Father  of  our  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour Jesus  Christ:  the  gloss,  though  a  gloss,  is  a 
correct  interpretation,  and  the  closeness  and  in- 
timacy and  love  of  that  relation  is  the  norm  from 
which  every  fatherhood  in  heaven  and  earth  is 
named.  What  we  know  of  fatherhood — dear  as 
the  name  has  become  to  us  through  our  earthly 
relations — is  but  a  faint  shadow  of  what  He,  the 
true  Father,  first  of  Christ  and  then  of  us  in 
Christ,  is  to  His  children.  After  his  glowing 
outline  of  what  God  had  done  for  his  readers — 
Gentiles  as  they  were,  born  in  sin  and  hitherto 
living  in  sin — in  receiving  them  into  His  very 
household  and  making  them  its  members,  not 
friends  merely  but  His  children,  the  Apostle's 
fervour  cannot  address  Him  in  less  full  recognition 
of  His  glorious  fatherhood  than  this:  the  Father 
of  fathers,  the  normal,  perfect,  ideal  father,  of 
which  all  other  fatherhood  is  but  a  broken  and 
poor  imitation, — "the  Father,  of  whom  every 
fatherhood  in  heaven  and  earth  is  named." 

Next,  let  us  observe  the  measure  of  the  gifts 
prayed  for:  "according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory." 


282  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

No  earthly  measure,  but  only  according  to  the 
richness  of  that  glory  of  the  great  God  pictured 
in  His  majesty,  power  and  love  in  all  the  preced- 
ing chapters.  The  gifts  of  Him  who  giveth  to  all 
men  liberally,  were  according,  not  to  their  desert, 
not  to  their  prospective  usefulness,  not  even  ac- 
cording to  their  needs  which  are  greater  than 
either,  but  away  above  all  these,  according  to  the 
riches  of  God's  glory — the  glory  of  the  Father 
from  whom  every  fatherhood  in  heaven  and  earth 
is  named. 

Next,  observe  the  thing  that  is  prayed  for,  in 
this  marvellous  prayer.  And  here  there  is  a  be- 
ginning and  a  middle  and  an  end.  The  blessing 
which  the  Apostle  craves  for  the  Ephesians  is 
nothing  less  than  this:  that  they  may  be  filled 
unto  all  the  fullness  of  God,  that  is,  that  all  of 
God's  inestimable  treasures  of  spiritual  blessings 
— life,  strength,  love,  holiness, — shall  be  poured 
out  immeasurably  imto  them, — ^that  they  should 
be  filled  with  all  those  spiritual  perfections  which 
assimilate  them  to  the  fullness  of  God. 

The  Apostle  craves  nothing  less  than  that  divine 
perfection  which  belongs  to  children  of  God,  for 
his  readers.  But  he  knows  that  God  does  not 
deal  magically  with  His  children:  there  are 
means  without  which  the  end  is  not  to  be  had. 
And  this  end  of  Christian  perfection  of  life  and 
heart,  the  being  holy  as  God  the  Father  is  holy, 
the  being  perfect  as  God  is  perfect,  is  not  to  be 


THE  FULLNESS  OF  GOD  283 

had  save  in  the  path  which  God  has  marked  out  as 
leading  to  the  goal.  And  the  Apostle  prays  not 
for  the  goal  but  for  the  path  which  leads  to  the 
goal.  Knowledge  is  in  order  to  holiness  and  it  is 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  for  which  Paul  prays  for 
his  readers,  that  they  may  by  it  be  enabled  to 
be  "filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of  God."  He  prays 
that  they  may  "apprehend  with  all  the  saints 
what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and 
depth,"  and  that  they  may  "know  the  love  of 
Christ  that  passeth  knowledge."  It  is  this  love 
of  Christ  that  he  has  been  speaking  to  them  about 
for  the  whole  of  the  Epistle,  the  love  of  Christ 
that  led  Him  to  immolate  Himself  for  them  be- 
fore the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  led  Him  to 
come  into  the  world  and  suffer  and  die  for  them  in 
the  fullness  of  time,  that  led  Him  now  that  He 
has  been  taken  up  to  the  Father's  right  hand  to 
send  forth  the  Spirit  to  call  them  inwardly,  and 
the  Apostle  to  call  them  outwardly.  This  love 
of  Christ  which  the  Apostle  would  have  them 
know,  in  order  that  they  may  become  holy,  is 
briefly  comprehended  in  the  Gospel.  And  he 
prays  for  them  to  have  an  adequate  apprehension 
of  the  riches  of  the  "Gospel,"  the  glad  tidings  of 
Christ's  love,  in  order  that  they  may  be  filled  unto 
all  the  fullness  of  God. 

But  why  pray  for  such  knowledge?  Is  knowl- 
edge to  be  had  by  prayer,  or  by  publication.'^ 
Certainly  not  without  publication,  and  Paul  had 


284  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

published  it  in  his  long  visits  in  Ephesus  and  his 
journeys  through  Asia;  and  he  had  just  repub- 
lished it  in  the  whole  of  the  former  part  of  this 
Epistle.  But  such  knowledge  as  he  desires  for 
his  readers  is  not  to  be  had  by  mere  publication. 
It  is  not  merely  that  they  may  hear  the  Gospel, 
not  merely  that  they  may  be,  in  an  intellectual 
and  mechanical  way,  informed  that  nothing  can 
account  for  Christ's  work  but  love,  love  compelling 
Him  to  leave  His  glory  behind  Him  in  heaven 
and  come  to  earth  as  a  servant  to  save  men,  that 
he  wishes  for  them.  He  wants  them  to  under- 
stand, feel,  and  realize  this;  in  the  language  of  the 
present  passage,  to  apprehend  it  in  its  height  and 
breadth  and  length  and  depth :  to  have  a  realizing 
sense  of  it.  For  this,  something  more  than  mere 
informing  is  needed:  even  a  preparation  of  the 
heart.  Let  the  husbandman  fling  the  seed  never 
so  widely  and  strew  them  never  so  thickly:  if 
there  is  no  prepared  soil,  how  can  he  hope  to  have 
a  harvest?  So  the  knowledge  which  the  Apostle 
desires  for  his  readers  is  not  merely  external  mind- 
knowledge,  but  the  real  knowledge  of  full  feeling 
and  apprehension;  knowledge  not  of  the  mere 
head  but  of  the  heart.  And  for  this,  something 
more  is  needed  than  the  mere  proclaiming  of  the 
Gospel,  which  may  be  grasped  in  its  propositions 
by  the  mere  mechanical  action  of  the  intellect: 
even  a  new  heart.  Spirit-made  and  Spirit-deter- 
mined. 


THE  FULLNESS  OF  GOD  285 

Accordingly,  this  is  not  all  that  the  Apostle 
prays  for.  As  this  is  a  means  to  the  end  sought, 
that  they  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fullness  of 
God,  so  there  is  a  means  even  to  this  means — 
that  the  Spirit  should  prepare  their  hearts.  And 
this  also  he  prays  for:  "that  ye  may  be  strength- 
ened with  power,  through  His  Spirit,  in  the  in- 
ward man;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts 
through  faith."  This  is  first.  Then,  this  is  to 
"the  end  that  being  rooted  and  grounded  in 
love,  ye  may  apprehend  and  know  the  love  of 
Christ."  This  is  second.  Then,  this  knowledge 
is  in  order  that  we  may  be  "filled  unto  all  the 
fullness  of  God."     This  is  the  end  of  all. 

We  note  then  first  of  all,  the  comprehensiveness 
of  this  prayer.  Is  there  any  blessing  not  pro- 
vided for  in  it.f^  That  our  souls  may  be  taken 
possession  of  by  the  Spirit  and  Christ  may  dwell 
in  us  by  faith.  That  we  may  have  a  perfect  and 
realizing  knowledge  of  the  Gospel.  That  we  may 
be  filled  unto  the  very  fullness  of  God.  Is  there 
any  good  thing  lacking? 

Next  we  note  the  significant  order  of  the  re- 
quests. First,  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
heart;  second,  the  realizing  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel;  third,  the  Christian  life.  Men  some- 
times seek  other  orders.  We  hear  the  cry  around 
us  daily  of  first  the  life,  then  the  doctrine.  Paul's 
order  is,  first  the  doctrine,  then  the  life.  We 
hear  the  cry  around  us  of  first  know,  then  believe. 


FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Paul's  order  is,  first  believe,  then  know.  And  as 
this  is  of  theological  importance  to-day,  as  well 
as  of  practical  importance  in  all  days,  observe  it 
more  closely.  We  have  confined  ourselves  to 
broad  outlines.  Paul,  however,  writes  with  such 
rich  fullness  that  every  detail  is  counted  in,  in 
its  proper  place.  What  in  detail  is  his  order  of 
salvation .f^  Just  this:  first,  the  Gospel  is  pro- 
claimed; secondly,  there  is  the  preparation  of  the 
heart  by  the  Spirit;  thirdly,  then  faith  and  Christ's 
indweUing  through  faith;  fourthly,  through  this 
indwelling  we  grow  strong  to  apprehend  the  truth 
of  Christ's  love;  fifthly,  by  this  apprehended 
knowledge  we  are  enabled  to  live  a  Christian  life. 
Search  and  look :  and  you  will  find  the  same  order 
everywhere  in  Paul  and  in  the  New  Testament. 

We  observe  then,  finally,  that  the  prayer  that 
Christ  may  dwell  in  our  hearts  by  faith  is  the 
opening  prayer  to  a  series.  This  is  not  the  end 
but  the  beginning:  and  just  because  it  is  a  Di- 
vine beginning  it  is  a  beginning  that  has  in  itself 
the  promise  and  pledge  of  the  end.  If  we  have 
this  we  will  have  all. 

(1)  It  itself  rests  on  a  preparation  of  the  heart 
by  the  Spirit :  "  That  ye  may  be  strengthened  with 
power  through  the  Spirit  in  the  inward  man." 
The  idea  here  is  a  communication  of  power  to  the 
soul.  We  almost  seem  to  be  reading  the  West- 
minster Confession,  for  exactly  what  "power" 
here  means  is   "ability."     The  soul  then  lacks 


THE  FULLNESS  OF  GOD  287 

"ability"  until  moved  upon  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  whole  soul  is  there;  the  Spirit  does  not  give 
it  more  faculties.  But  it  is  weak.  The  action  of 
the  Spirit  is  to  strengthen  it  and  the  strengthening 
takes  place  by  an  infusion  of  "ability."  Now  the 
soul  can  exercise  faith,  and  it  exercises  it.  Faith 
lays  hold  of  Christ.  And  so  the  enabled  soul 
through  faith  obtains  the  indwelling  of  Christ. 
This  indwelling  of  Christ  is  mediated  by  faith, 
and  the  exercise  of  faith  is  rendered  possible  by 
the  strengthening  of  the  soul  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
by  the  infusion  of  "power,"  "ability." 

(2)  It  consists  in  the  constant  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  soul.  Presence  is  predicated  of  God 
wherever  He  manifests  Himself,  whether  in  the 
Temple  by  the  Shekinah  or  in  Israel  or  in  the 
Church  or  in  the  individual.  The  indwelling  of 
Christ  is  then  the  manifestation  of  Christ's  power. 
The  agent  by  which  Christ  manifests  Himself  to 
the  soul  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  So  that  the  indwell- 
ing of  Christ  and  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  is 
one  and  the  same.  But  the  Spirit  does  not  enter 
the  soul  to  separate  Christ  and  the  believer  but  to 
unite  them,  and  hence  this  indwelling  draws 
Christ  and  the  soul  into  communion.  Christ 
dwells  in  us,  that  is,  is  present  in  us,  quickening 
all  our  activities  and  making  us  but  members  of 
His  body  of  which  He  is  the  directing  Head. 

(3)  It  issues  hence  into  all  Christian  senti- 
ments and  activities.     First  the  Apostle  mentions 


288  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

love;  "being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love"  is 
the  intermediate  step  to  the  apprehension  of 
Christ's  love.  Love  apprehends  love.  Out  of 
this  Christ-filled  and  Christ-led  heart,  we  are  able 
to  see  His  love  and  to  appreciate  it.  Hence,  next, 
knowledge.  And  then,  out  of  this  knowledge, 
life. 

Now,  observe  as  to  Christ's  indwelling:  (1) 
Christ  may  dwell  in  us;  (2)  He  dwells  in  us 
through  faith;  (3)  His  dwelling  in  us  is  the  source 
of  all  our  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  and  of  all  our 
Christian  walk. 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  HOLY   SPIRIT 

Eph.  4:30: — "And  grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  in  whom 
ye  were  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 

It  is  Paul's  custom  in  his  epistles  to  prepare 
for  exhortation  by  the  enunciation  of  truth;  to 
lay  first  the  foundation  of  fact  and  doctrine,  and 
on  that  foundation  to  raise  his  appeals  for  con- 
duct. The  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  is  no  excep- 
tion to  this  rule.  The  former  chapters  of  this 
epistle  are  a  magnificent  exposition  of  doctrine,  a 
noble  presentation  to  Paul's  readers  of  what  God 
has  done  for  them  in  election  and  redemption  and 
calling,  and  of  the  great  privileges  which  they 
have  obtained  in  Christ.  To  this  he  adjoins, 
according  to  his  custom,  a  ringing  appeal,  based 
on  this  exposition  of  truth  and  privilege.  This 
appeal  to  his  readers  is  to  live  up  to  their  privi- 
leges, or,  in  his  own  words,  to  walk  worthily  of 
the  calling  wherewith  they  were  called.  The 
whole  latter  or  practical  part  of  the  letter  is  thus 
expressly  based  on  the  former  or  doctrinal  part. 
And  this  is  true  of  the  exhortations  in  detail  as 
well  as  in  general.  Paul  wrote  always  with  vital 
connectedness.  There  never  was  a  less  artificial 
writer,  and  none  of  his  epistles  bears  more  evi- 
dent traces  than  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  of 
having  been  written,  as  the  Germans  say,  "at  a 

289 


290  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

single  gush."  All  here  is  of  a  piece,  and  part  is 
concatenated  with  part  in  the  intimate  connec- 
tion which  arises  out  of — not  artificial  effort  to 
obtain  logical  consecution — but  the  living  flow  of 
a  heart  full  of  a  single  purpose. 

Take,  as  an  example,  the  beautiful  appeal  of  our 
text.  The  Apostle  is  not  perfunctorily  or  me- 
chanically repeating  a  set  phrase,  a  pious  plati- 
tude. He  is  making  an  appeal,  out  of  a  full 
heart,  to  just  the  readers  he  has  in  mind,  in  just 
their  situation;  and  under  the  impulse  of  his  own 
vivid  appreciation  of  their  peculiar  state  and  con- 
dition. On  the  basis  of  the  privileges  they  had 
received  in  Christ  he  had  exliorted  them  gener- 
ally to  an  accordant  inner  and  outer  conduct;  and 
he  had  presented  these  general  exhortations  both 
positively  and  negatively.  Now  he  has  come  to 
details.  He  has  enumerated  several  of  the  sins 
to  which  they  in  their  situation  were  liable,  per- 
haps, in  a  special  degree,  sins  of  falsehood,  wrath, 
theft,  unbecoming  speech.  Shall  they,  they,  the 
recipients  of  this  new  life  and  all  these  Divine 
favours,  fall  into  such  sins  ?  He  suddenly  broadens 
the  appeal  into  an  earnest  beseeching  not  so  to 
grieve  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in  w^hom  they  were 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption.  That  they, 
too,  had  this  sealing,  had  he  not  just  told  them? 
Nay,  had  he  not  just  pointed  them  to  it  as  to 
their  most  distinguishing  grace .^^  It  is  not  by  a 
new  or  a  merely  general  motive  by  which  he  would 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT    291 

move  their  hearts.  It  is  distinctly  by  the  motive 
to  which  he  had  already  adverted  and  which  he 
had  made  their  own.  It  was  because  he  had 
taught  them  to  understand  and  feel  that  they, 
even  they,  Gentiles  according  to  the  flesh,  had 
been  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise,  as 
an  earnest  of  their  inheritance,  and  could  count 
on  this  being  a  living  and  moving  motive  in  their 
minds — or  rather  it  is  because  he  himself  felt  this 
great  truth  as  real  and  as  a  motive  of  power — that 
he  adduces  it  here  to  move  them  to  action. 

If  we  are«to  feel  the  motive  power  in  the  appeal 
as  Paul  felt  it  and  as  he  desired  his  readers  to  feel 
it,  we  must  approach  it  as  he  approached  it  and 
as  he  desired  them  to  approach  it,  namely, 
through  a  preliminary  apprehension  and  appre- 
ciation of  the  fact  underlying  the  appeal  and  giving 
it  force.  To  do  this  we  should  approach  the  con- 
sideration of  the  text  under  some  such  logical  an- 
alysis of  its  contents  as  the  following.  First,  we 
should  consider  the  great  fact  on  which  the  appeal 
is  based,  namely,  that  Christians  have  been  sealed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  day  of  redemption. 
Secondly,  we  should  consider  the  nature  of  this 
sealing  Spirit  as  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  pain 
which  all  sin  must  bring  to  Him  as  the  indwelling 
and  sealing  Spirit.  Thirdly,  we  should  consider 
the  nature  and  strength  of  the  motive  thence 
arising  to  us,  who  are  the  recipients  of  His  grace, 
to  refrain  from  the  sin  which  grieves  Him,  and 


292  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

to  seek  the  life  of  holiness  which  pleases  Him. 
Time  would  fail  us,  however,  on  this  occasion 
fully  to  develop  the  contents  of  these  proposi- 
tions. Let  us  confine  ourselves  to  a  few  brief 
remarks  on  (1)  the  nature  of  the  basal  fact  on 
which  Paul  founds  his  appeal,  as  to  our  position 
as  Christians;  and  (2)  the  nature  of  the  motive 
which  he  seeks  to  set  in  action  by  his  appeal. 

The  fundamental  fact  on  which  Paul,  in  the 
text,  bases  his  appeal  to  a  holy  life  is  that  his 
readers,  because  Christians,  "have  been  sealed 
in  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  the  day  of  redemption." 
Now,  "sealing"  expresses  authentication  or  se- 
curity, or,  perhaps,  we  may  say,  authentication 
and  security.  It  is,  then,  the  security  of  the 
Christian's  salvation  which  is  the  fact  appealed 
to;  the  Christian  is  "sealed,"  authenticated  as  a 
redeemed  one,  and  made  secure  as  to  the  comple- 
tion of  the  redemption;  for  he  is  sealed  unto  the 
day  of  redemption. 

The  reference  to  Paul's  teaching,  in  a  former 
chapter,  as  to  the  grace  given  to  his  readers,  will 
help  us  to  understand  the  fact  here  adduced  as  a 
motive  to  action.  There  we  have  the  fuller  state- 
ment, that  these  Christians  had  had  the  Word  of 
the  Truth,  the  Gospel  of  salvation,  preached  to 
them;  that  they  had  heard  it,  and  had  believed 
it;  and  then,  that  they  had  been  "sealed  with  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  promise,"  in  other  words,  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  works  out  all  the  promises  to  us  to 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  293 

fruition;  "who,"  adds  the  Apostle,  "is  an  earnest 
of  our  inheritance,"  an  earnest  being  more  than  a 
pledge,  inasmuch  as  it  is  both  a  pledge  and  a  part 
of  the  inheritance  itself.  Then  the  Apostle  tells 
us  unto  what  we  were  thus  sealed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  who  is  Himself  an  earnest  of 
our  inheritance,  namely,  "unto  the  redemption  of 
God's  own  possession"  unto  the  praise  of  His 
glory. 

Let  us  read  these  great  words  backwards,  that 
we  may  grasp  their  full  import.  Christians  are 
primarily  the  purchased  possession  of  God:  God 
has  purchased  them  to  Himself  by  the  precious 
blood  of  His  Son.  But,  the  purchase  is  one 
thing,  and  "the  delivery  of  the  goods"  another. 
Their  redemption  is,  therefore,  not  completed 
by  the  simple  purchase.  There  remains,  accord- 
ingly, a  "day  of  redemption"  yet  in  the  future, 
unto  which  the  purchased  possession  is  to  be 
brought.  Meanwhile,  because  we  are  purchased 
and  are  God's  possession,  we  are  sealed  to  Him 
and  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  redemption,  to  take 
place  on  that  day.  And  the  seal  is  the  Holy 
Spirit,  here  designated  as  the  "Holy  Spirit  of 
promise"  because  it  is  through  Him  that  this 
promise  is  to  be  fulfilled;  and  the  "earnest  of  our 
inheritance"  because  He  is  both  the  pledge  that 
the  inheritance  shall  be  ours,  and  a  foretaste  of 
that  inheritance  itself.  The  whole  is  a  most 
pointed  assertion  that  those  who  have  been  bought 


294  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  brought  to  God  by  the 
preached  Gospel,  shall  be  kept  by  His  power  unto 
the  salvation  which  is  ready  to  be  revealed  at  the 
last  day. 

The  great  fact  on  which  Paul  bases  his  appeal 
is,  therefore,  the  fact  of  the  security  of  believers, 
of  the  preservation  by  God  of  His  children,  of  the 
"perseverance  of  the  saints" — to  use  time-hon- 
oured theological  language.  We  are  sealed,  ren- 
dered secure,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  unto  the  day  of 
redemption:  we  are  sealed  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  fulfiller  of  the  promises,  and  the  earnest  of 
our  inheritance,  unto  the  full  redemption  of  us, 
who  are  God's  purchased  possession.  The  fact 
the  Apostle  adverts  to  is,  in  a  word,  that  our  sal- 
vation is  sure. 

How  is  this  a  motive  to  holiness.^  Men  say 
that  security  acts  rather  as  a  motive  to  careless- 
ness. Well,  we  observe  at  least  that  the  Apostle 
does  not  think  so,  but  uses  it  rather  as  a  motive  to 
holiness.  Because  we  have  been  sealed  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  he  reasons^  let  us  not  grieve  Him  by 
sin.  Men  may  think  that  a  stronger  appeal  might 
be  based  on  fear  lest  we  fall  from  the  Spirit's 
keeping;  as  if  Paul  should  rather  have  said.  Be- 
cause you  can  be  kept  only  by  the  Spirit,  beware 
lest  you  grieve  Him  away  by  sinning.  But  Paul's 
actual  appeal  is  not  to  fear  but  to  gratitude.  Be- 
cause you  have  been  sealed  by  the  Spirit  unto  the 
day  of  redemption,  see  to  it  that  you  do  not  grieve. 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  295 

bring  pain  or  sorrow  to  this  Spirit,  who  has  done 
so  much  for  you. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  of  course,  that  the  motive 
of  fear  is  a  powerful  one,  a  legitimate  one  to  ap- 
peal to,  and  one  which  in  its  due  place  is  appealed 
to  constantly  in  the  Scriptures.  It  is,  no  doubt,  a 
relatively  lower  motive  than  that  here  appealed 
to  by  Paul;  but  as  Bishop  Doane  once  truly  said, 
most  men  are  more  amenable  to  appeals  addressed 
to  the  lower  than  to  those  addressed  to  the  higher 
motives.  When  men  cease  to  be  of  a  low  mind, 
we  can  afford  to  deal  with  them  on  a  higher  plane. 
I  have  no  sympathy,  therefore,  with  the  view, 
often  expressed,  that  man  must  not  be  urged  to 
save  his  soul  by  an  appeal  to  his  interests,  by  an 
appeal  to  the  joys  of  heaven  or  to  the  pains  of 
torment.  You  all  know  the  old  story  of  how  St. 
Iddo,  once,  when  he  journeyed  abroad,  met  an 
old  crone  with  a  pitcher  of  water  in  one  hand  and 
a  torch  ablaze  in  the  other,  who  explained  that 
the  torch  was  to  burn  up  heaven  and  the  water  to 
quench  hell,  that  men  might  no  longer  seek  to 
please  God  because  of  desire  for  one  or  fear  of  the 
other,  but  might  be  led  only  by  disinterested  love. 
History  says  that  St.  Iddo  went  home  wondering. 
Well  he  might.  For  on  such  teachings  as  this 
he  should  have  to  forego  the  imitation  of  his  Lord, 
who  painted  to  men  the  delights  of  the  heavenly 
habitations  and  forewarned  men  to  fear  him  who 
has  power  after  he  has  destroyed  the  body  also 


296  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

to  cast  into  hell,  where,  so  He  says,  their  worm 
dieth  not  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  The  mo- 
tives of  fear  of  punishment  and  vision  of  reward, 
though  relatively  low  motives,  are  yet  legitimate 
motives,  and  are,  in  their  own  place,  valuable. 

But  the  Apostle  teaches  us  in  our  present  pas- 
sage that  the  higher  motives  too  are  for  use  and 
in  their  own  place  are  the  motives  to  use.  Do  not 
let  us,  as  Christian  ministers,  assume  that  our 
flocks,  purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption  by  the  Spirit, 
are  accessible  only  to  the  lowest  motives.  "Give 
a  dog  a  bad  name,"  says  the  proverb,  "and  hang 
him."  And  the  proverb  may  be  an  allegory  to  us. 
Deal  with  people  on  a  low  plane  and  they  may 
sink  to  that  plane  and  become  incapable  of  oc- 
cupying any  other.  Cry  to  them,  "Lift  up  your 
hearts"  and  believe  me  you  will  obtain  your  re- 
sponse. It  is  a  familiar  experience  that,  if  you 
treat  a  man  as  a  gentleman,  he  will  tend  to  act 
like  a  gentleman;  if  you  treat  him  like  a  thief, 
only  the  grace  of  God  and  strong  moral  fibre  can 
hold  him  back  from  stealing.  Treat  Christian 
men  like  Christian  men;  expect  them  to  live  on 
Christian  principles;  and  they  will  strive  to  walk 
worthily  of  their  Christian  profession. 

So  far  from  Paul's  appeal  to  the  high  motive  of 
gratitude  here,  then,  being  surprising,  it  is,  even 
on  the  low  ground  of  natural  psychology,  true 
and  right.     The  highest  motives   are  relatively 


THE  SEALING  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  297 

the  most  powerfuL  And  when  we  leave  the  low 
ground  of  natural  psychology  and  take  our  stand 
on  the  higher  ground  of  Christian  truth,  how  sig- 
nificant and  instructive  it  is.  If  the  Holy  Spirit 
has  done  this  for  me;  if  He  in  all  His  holiness  is 
dwelling  in  me,  to  seal  me  unto  the  day  of  re- 
demption, shall  I  have  no  care  not  to  grieve  Him? 
Fear  is  paralyzing.  Despair  is  destruction  of  effort. 
Hope  is  living  and  active  in  every  limb,  and  when 
that  hope  becomes  assurance,  and  that  assurance  is 
recognized  as  based  on  the  act  of  a  Person,' lovingly 
dealing  with  us  and  winning  us  to  holiness,  can  we 
conceive  of  a  motive  to  holiness  of  equal  power  .f^ 
Brethren,  we  must  not  speak  of  such  things 
historically  only.  We  are  not  here  simply  to  ob- 
serve how  Paul  appealed  to  the  Ephesians,  as  he 
sought  to  move  them  to  holy  endeavor;  nor  to 
discuss  whether  or  not  this  is  a  moving  manner  of 
dealing  with  human  souls.  His  appeal  is  to  us. 
The  fact  asserted  is  true  of  us, — we  are  sealed  by 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  day  of  redemption.  He  is 
in  us  too  as  the  Holy  Spirit  whom  sin  offends,  and 
as  the  loving  Spirit  who  is  working  in  us  towards 
good.  Do  we  feel  the  pull  of  the  appeal.?  Shall 
we  listen  to  and  feel  and  yield  to  and  obey  Paul's 
great  voice  crying  to  us  down  through  the  ages: 
"Grieve  not  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in  whom  ye 
were  sealed  unto  the  day  of  redemption"?  Com- 
mune with  your  souls  on  these  things  to-day! 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION 

Phil.  2:12,  13: — "So  then,  my  beloved,  even  as  ye  have  always 
obeyed,  not  as  in  my  presence  only,  but  now  much  more  in  my 
absence,  work  out  your  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling;  for 
it  is  God  who  worketh  in  you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good 
pleasure." 

Nothing  could  be  more  fundamental  to  Paul's 
conception  of  salvation  than  his  teaching  as  to  its 
relation  to  "works."  He  is  persistently  insistent 
that  this  relation  is  that  of  cause  rather  than  of 
effect.  The  "not  out  of  works,  but  unto  good 
works,"  of  Ephesians  2:9,  10,  sounds  the  key- 
note of  his  whole  teaching.  In  "good  works," 
therefore,  according  to  Paul  "salvation"  finds  its 
realization:  the  very  essence  of  salvation  is  holi- 
ness of  life,  "  sanctification  of  the  spirit."  And 
equally  in  "salvation"  "good  works"  find  their 
only  root:  and  it  is  only  on  the  ground  of  the 
saving  work  of  God  that  men  may  be  hopefully 
exhorted  to  good  works.  As  it  is  pregnantly 
stated  in  the  passage  from  Ephesians  we  have  al- 
ready adverted  to,  God  has  prepared  beforehand 
good  works,  to  our  walk  in  which  we  are  intro- 
duced by  a  creative  act  on  His  part,  in  Christ 
Jesus  (Eph.  2:10).  Accordingly  Paul's  epistles 
(as  is  the  whole  New  Testament),  are  full  of  par- 
ticular instances  of  appeals  to  conduct  based  on 
the  inception  and  working  in  us  of  the  saving  ac- 

298 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  299 

tivity  of  God  (e.g.,  1  Thess.  2:12;  2  Thess.  2:13- 
15;  Rom.  6:2;  2  Cor.  5:14;  Col.  1:10;  Phil.  1:21; 
2:12,  13;  2  Tim.  2:19).  Possibly  in  the  words  of 
our  text  we  meet  with  the  most  precise  expression 
of  this  appeal.  Here  the  saint  is  exhorted  to 
"work  out  his  own  salvation"  just  because  "it  is 
God  who  is  the  worker  in  him  of  both  the  willing 
and  the  doing,  in  pursuance  of  His  good  pleasure." 
If  there  is  an  antinomy  involved  in  this  colloca- 
tion of  duty  and  motive,  it  is  in  this  passage  cer- 
tainly brought  to  its  sharpest  point.  There  are 
also  many  minor  matters  of  interest  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  passage,  which  attract  us  to  its  study. 
Let  us  try  to  see  briefly  just  what  the  Apostle 
says  in  it. 

It  will  be  useful  to  bear  in  mind  from  the  be- 
ginning that  the  exhortation  is  addressed  not  to 
sinners  but  to  saints:  it  is  to  "the  saints  in  Christ 
Jesus"  (1:1),  that  Paul  is  speaking.  That  is  to 
say,  this  exhortation  has  reference  not  to  entrance 
into  Christian  life  but  to  the  prosecution  to  its 
appropriate  goal  of  a  Christian  life  already  entered 
into.  This  is  already  advertised  to  us  by  the 
very  verb  used.  Paul  does  not  say  simply  "work 
your  salvation,"  but  "work  out  your  salvation" — 
employing  a  compound  verb  which  throws  its 
emphasis  on  the  end,  "bring  your  salvation  to  its 
completion."  It  is  also  involved  in  the  contextual 
connection.  This  exhortation  closes  a  paragraph 
which  had  begun  (1:27)  with  the  appeal,  "Only 


300  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

let  your  manner  of  life  be  worthy  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ";  and  it  closes  it  with  a  reversion  to  the 
same  dominant  thought.  These  Philippian  read- 
ers already  stood  with  the  Apostle  in  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  gospel :  his  earnest  desire  for  them  was 
a  complete  realization  in  life  of  all  that  the  gospel 
meant.  They  had  entered  upon  the  race;  let 
them  run  it  through  to  the  goal.  They  had  in 
principle  received  salvation  in  believing;  let  them 
work  this  salvation  now  completely  out  in  life. 
At  the  opening  of  the  letter  Paul  had  expressed 
his  confidence  that,  as  God  had  begun  a  good  work 
in  them.  He  would  perfect  it  until  the  day  of  Jesus 
Christ  (1:6).  He  now  exhorts  them  to  strive  to 
attam  the  same  high  end.  "Work  out  your  own 
salvation,"  i.e.,  work  it  completely  out,  advance 
it  to  its  accomplishment,  bring  it  to  its  capstone 
and  crown  it  with  its  pinnacles. 

Had  it  not  been  brought  into  doubt  by  some 
students  of  the  passage,  it  would  seem  a  work  of 
supererogation  to  pause  to  assure  ourselves  that 
what  Paul  has  in  mind  in  his  exhortation  to  "work 
out  salvation"  is  primarily  the  attainment  of 
ethical  perfection.  The  eschatological  reference 
of  "salvation"  must  not,  of  course,  be  obscured. 
But  neither  must  it  be  obscured  that  the  pathway 
that  leads  to  the  eschatological  goal  of  salvation 
is  that  walk  in  good  works  unto  which  Christians 
have  been  created  in  Christ  Jesus,  that  "fruitage 
of  righteousness"  which  is  through  Jesus  Christ 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  301 

unto  the  glory  and  praise  of  God,  with  which  the 
Apostle  longs  to  see  the  Philippians  filled  "against 
the  day  of  Christ"  (1:10,  11).  When  he  exhorts 
his  readers  at  the  close  of  this  paragraph  "to 
work  out  their  own  salvation,"  he  obviously  has 
the  same  thing  in  mind  which  he  had  at  its  be- 
ginning, when  he  exhorted  them  to  "let  their 
manner  of  life  be  worthy  of  the  gospel  of  Christ"; 
and  the  same  thing  which  he  explains  in  the  course 
of  it  to  include  steadfastness  in  testimony  to  the 
gospel,  love  to  the  brethren,  humility  of  mind  and 
the  like  Christian  virtues.  In  the  acquisition  and 
cultivation  of  such  graces  they  would  be  "working 
out  their  salvation,"  realizing  in  life  in  its  ever- 
growing completeness  what  is  involved  in  "sal- 
vation" as  its  essential  contents. 

The  form  and  language  in  which  the  exhortation 
is  cast  are  naturally  coloured  by  the  situation  in 
which  the  writer  found  himself  at  the  moment 
and  the  condition  in  which  he  conceived  his 
readers  to  stand.  For  the  Apostle  was  no  ab- 
stract essayist,  but  wrote  out  of  a  burning  heart, 
as  a  practical  man  to  practical  men,  eager  to  meet 
the  actually  existent  state  of  affairs.  He  had 
himself  been  interrupted  in  the  midst  of  his  work 
and  cast  into  prison:  he  was  labouring  under  deep 
anxiety  lest  his  violent  removal  from  the  care 
of  the  infant  churches  should  unfavorably  affect 
their  Christian  development.  He  had,  there- 
fore, already  described  at  considerable  length  how 


302  FATIH  AND  LIFE 

his  imprisonment  had  not  elsewhere  injured  the 
progress  of  the  gospel  (1:12  sq.),  and  had  sought 
to  separate  the  Philippians  from  dependence  on 
his  initiative  (1:27).     He  very  naturally  reverts 
to  the  same  consideration  now  and  makes  his 
absence  from  his  hearers  only  a  reason  for  re- 
doubled exertions  on  their  part,  even  hinting,  per- 
haps, that  they  should  know  that,  after  all,  each 
man  must  busy  himself  with  "his  own  salvation," 
and  the  help  he  can  obtain  from  others  must  be  in- 
significant.    This  surely  is,  in  part  at  least,  the 
account  to  give  of  the  emphatic  pronoun — "work 
out  your  own  salvation" — immediately  connected 
as  it  is  with  the  reference  to  the  effect  which  his 
presence  or  absence  should  have  on  their  activity : 
"not  as  if  (you  did  so),  only  because  I  was  pres- 
ent, but  now  much  rather  because  I  am  absent, 
work  out  your  own  salvation."     It  is  as  much  as 
to  say,  that  the  things  that  have  happened  to  me 
fall  out  in  your  case,  too,  rather  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  gospel :  for  if  you  have  ever  in  any  measure 
depended  on  me,  my  very  removal  should  stir 
you  up  to  increased  effort — for  after  all  it  is  your 
own  salvation  not  my  joy  that  is  primarily  at 
stake  for  you.     It  is  possible  meanwhile  that  this 
emphasis  on  "your  own"  may  be,  in  part,  due 
also  to  a  reference  back  to  the  work  of  Christ  so 
touchingly  portrayed  in  the  immediately  preced- 
ing context :  if  Christ  was  willing  to  do  and  suffer 
all  this  for  the  salvation  of  others,  should  not  you 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  303 

be  willing  to  do  and  suffer  in  imitation  of  Him,  for 
your  own  salvation?  But  in  any  case  the  main 
account  of  the  emphasis  thrown  on  the  words 
would  seem  to  be  found  in  the  reference  to  his 
readers'  possible  over-dependence  on  Paul's  in- 
itiative. 

One  of  the  chief  dangers  in  which  the  Apostle 
had  found  the  Philippians  to  stand  arose  from  a 
tendency  among  them  to  pride  and  high-minded- 
ness,  or,  rather,  perhaps,  we  should  say,  to  party 
spirit,  and  to  selfishness  (2:1-4).  It  was,  there- 
fore, that  he  was  led  to  devote  the  early  part  of 
this  chapter  to  urging  them  to  beware  of  faction 
and  vainglory  and  to  cultivate  lowliness  of  mind: 
and  it  was  on  this  account  that  he  adduces  for 
their  imitation  Christ's  great  example  of  self- 
humiliation  for  the  good  of  others  (2:5  sq.).  Of 
course  allusion  to  their  most  prominent  ethical 
danger  could  not  be  absent  from  this  closing  ex- 
hortation, in  which  he  sums  up  his  desire  for  their 
ethical  perfection.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  that 
the  Apostle,  after  his  gracious  conciliatory  habit, 
should  pause  at  the  outset  to  recognize  the  gen- 
eral submissiveness  of  disposition  which  his  readers 
had  hitherto  shown,  in  accordance  with  the  ex- 
ample of  Christ:  for  the  back  reference  of  the 
words,  "even  as  ye  have  always  submitted,"  to 
the  "becoming  submissive  even  unto  death"  of 
verse  8  is  unmistakable.  And  it  is  due,  doubt- 
less, to  the  same  clause  that  he  throws  so  strong 


304  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

an  emphasis,  in  the  very  exhortation  itself,  on  the 
spirit  in  which  they  were  to  "work  out  their  own 
salvation,"  namely,  "with  fear  and  trembling," 
that  is  to  say,  with  due  recognition  of  their  hum- 
ble estate  in  the  sight  of  that  God  whose  servants 
they  were,  and  whose  salvation  they  were  now 
exhorted  to  use  all  diligence  in  realizing. 

We  must  pause  a  moment  on  these  words, 
"with  fear  and  trembling."  For  the  immense 
emphasis  that  is  thrown  upon  them  constitutes 
them,  as  has  been  convincingly  pointed  out  by  E. 
Schaeder,  the  hinge  of  the  passage.  The  effect  of 
this  emphasis  is  that  Paul  does  not  here  exhort  his 
readers  so  much  to  "work  out  their  salvation"  as 
to  work  it  out  specifically  "with  fear  and  trem- 
bling." What  he  says  in  effect  is,  "Let  it  be  with 
fear  and  trembling  that  you  work  out  your  own 
salvation."  The  whole  force  of  the  exhortation, 
in  fact,  accumulates  on  these  words,  "with  fear 
and  trembling."  It  is  to  the  preservation  of  this 
state  of  mind  in  the  working  out  of  their  salva- 
tion that  the  Apostle  is  really  urging  his  readers. 
Now  it  is  undeniable  that  there  seems  something 
strange  in  this.  Why  should  the  Apostle  lay 
such  stress  on  "fear  and  trembling"  as  the  char- 
acterizing spirit  of  the  Christian  effort.^  Is 
Christianity,  after  all,  even  more  than  Judaism, 
which  Hegel  (though  mistakenly)  called  the  re- 
ligion of  fear  j)ar  excellence,  just  the  religion  of 
slavish  terror — every  step  in  the  cultivation  of 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  305 

which  is  to  be  driven  on  by  "fear  and  trembling"? 
What  becomes  then  of  that  fundamental  tone 
which  resounds  through  every  sentence  and  word 
and  syllable  of  this  very  Epistle  to  the  Philip - 
pians — that  of  "rejoice  in  the  Lord"  (3:1)?  What 
harmony  can  exist  between  the  two  exhortations: 
"Let  it  be  specifically  with  fear  and  trembling 
that  ye  work  out  your  own  salvation,"  and  "Re- 
joice in  the  Lord  always;  again  I  will  say.  Re- 
joice" (4:4)?  What  union  can  there  be  between 
such  carking  anxiety  and  abounding  joy,  as  twin 
states  of  heart  characterizing  the  entire  Christian 
walk?  It  is  certainly  puzzling  to  find  the  Apostle 
throwing  the  stress  of  his  exhortation  on  these 
words;  and  it  deserves  our  most  careful  scrutiny. 
This  puzzle  is  only  increased  when  we  observe, 
as  we  must  observe  at  once  on  reading  the  ex- 
hortation itself — that  is,  the  twelfth  verse — in  its 
context,  that  Paul's  purpose  is  obviously  to  en- 
courage not  to  frighten  his  readers,  to  enhearten 
not  to  dishearten  them  in  their  Christian  walk. 
WTien  we  consider  the  inducements  which  he 
brings  to  bear  on  them  to  give  force  to  his  exhor- 
tation, we  cannot  believe  that  its  nerve  is  fear 
lest  they  should  after  all  not  attain  the  end, 
but  rather  assurance  that  the  end  shall  be  cer- 
tainly gained.  For  Paul  places  this  exhortation 
between  the  two  most  powerful  encouragements 
that  could  possibly  be  brought  to  bear  upon  a 
Christian's  conduct — the  example  of  Christ  and 


306  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  ''So  then,  my 
beloved,"  he  says,  in  introducing  the  exhortation. 
And  this  "so  then"  looks  back  upon  and  takes 
hold  upon  that  marvellous  exposition  of  the  self- 
abnegation  of  Christ  and  His  consequent  great 
reward,  which  the  Apostle  had  given  in  verses 
5-11.  "So  then" — seeing  then  that  you  have 
this  great  example  so  plainly  and  so  powerfully 
set  before  you,  in  imitation  of  it  and  inspired  by 
its  great  lesson — do  you  "work  out  your  own  sal- 
vation." This  exhortation  is,  to  be  sure,  broad- 
ened beyond  the  specific  application  of  the  pre- 
mise; the  particular  exemplary  act  adduced  from 
Christ's  great  transaction  is  His  self-abnegation, 
"accounting  others  better  than  Himself";  and 
the  exhortation  to  the  Philippians  to  "work  out 
their  own  salvation"  includes  more  than  a  rec- 
ommendation of  self-abnegation.  The  logical 
nexus,  of  course,  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  special 
fault  of  the  Philippians,  fresh  in  the  Apostle's 
mmd  as  requiring  eradication,  as  they  advanced 
toward  Christian  perfection,  was  precisely  that 
high-mindedness  which  was  slow  to  look  on  the 
things  of  others  as  well  as  on  their  own  things;  and 
the  special  virtues  they  needed  to  cultivate  in 
completing  their  salvation  were  just  those  vir- 
tues of  self-abnegation  to  which  the  example  of 
Christ  would  inspire  them.  Hence  the  fitness  of 
this  example  to  their  case.  But  there  seems  no 
fitness  in  it  to  ground  a  specific  appeal  to  "fear 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  307 

and  trembling"  as  the  proper  state  of  mind  in 
which  they  should  prosecute  their  working  out  of 
their  own  salvation.  Awe,  reverence,  humility, 
yes:  these  would  be  suitable  frames  of  feeling 
for  him  who  would  work  under  the  inspiration  of 
such  an  example.  But  fear  and  trembling, — anx- 
ious dread  lest  failure  after  all  should  be  the 
end  of  endeavour, — how  could  the  example  of 
Christ's  great  act  of  humiliation,  issuing  in  so 
tremendous  a  reward,  fitly  call  out  such  a  state 
of  mind? 

The  case  is  similar  with  the  support  which  the 
Apostle  brings  to  his  exhortation  from  the  other 
side.  "Let  it  be  with  fear  and  trembling,"  says 
the  Apostle,  "that  you  work  out  your  own  salva- 
tion, for^^ — and  this  "for"  looks  forward  to  and 
takes  hold  upon  the  sharpest  possible  assurance  of 
divine  aid.  "For  He  that  worketh  in  you  both 
the  willing  and  the  doing,  in  pursuance  of  His 
good  pleasure,  is  none  other  than  God."  Surely 
this  tremendous  assertion  of  the  implication  of 
God  Himself  in  the  work  he  is  exhorting  his  readers 
to  prosecute,  affords  no  reason  why  they  should 
carry  on  that  work  in  the  grip  of  a  dreadful  fear 
lest  they  should  after  all  fail.  We  must  not  neg- 
lect the  emphasis  that  falls  on  the  word  "God" 
here — second  only  to  that  which  falls  on  the  words 
"with  fear  and  trembling,"  so  that  in  effect  these 
two  ideas  are  brought  into  sharp  collocation,  and 
each  enhances  the  stress  thrown  on  the  other. 


308  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Nor  should  we  neglect  to  notice,  what  has  been 
well  brought  out  by  Kiihl,  that  Paul  is  adducing 
here  a  general  proposition — one  in  one  form  or 
another  familiar  to  all  readers  of  his  epistles — the 
great  truth  central  to  his  whole  system  of  doc- 
trine, that  "it  is  God  who  in  all  matters  of  salva- 
tion, is  the  energizer  in  men  of  both  the  willing 
and  the  doing,  in  pursuance  of  His  good  pleasure." 
It  is  the  same  great  fact  that  the  Apostle  planted 
at  the  root  of  the  confidence  of  his  Ephesian  read- 
ers (1:11),  when  he  traced  all  the  blessings  that 
had  been  brought  them  to  the  purpose  "of  Him 
who  worketh  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  His 
own  will."  It  is  the  same  great  fact  that  rings 
out  in  the  triumphant  cry  of  Romans  8:31 — "If 
God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us."  Surely, 
when  he  placed  the  Almighty  Arms  beneath  them, 
the  Apostle  cannot  have  intended  to  instil  into 
his  readers  a  more  poignant  sense  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  issue  of  their  labours,  and  to  justify 
to  them  a  demand  that  it  shall  be  especially  "in 
fear  and  trembling" — in  doubt  and  terror  as  to 
the  result — that  they  must  prosecute  their  great 
task  of  "working  out  their  own  salvation."  The 
great  fact  that  he  adduces  is  awe-inspiring  enough. 
How  solemnizing  the  assurance  that  God  works 
in  us  all  our  good  impulses!  How  fitted  to  teach 
us  humility  and  beget  in  us  a  godly  fear  as  we 
walk  the  pathway  provided  for  us !  But  how  little 
fitted  to  lead  us  to  despair  of  the  result,  to  live 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  309 

in  dreadful  uncertainty  as  to  the  outcome!     "K 
God  is  for  us,  who  is  against  us ! " 

The  context,  then,  certainly  lends  no  support 
to  the  emphatic  words  "with  fear  and  trembling," 
if  they  be  taken  as  an  exhortation  to  an  attitude 
of  doubt  and  hesitation — to  the  presentation  of  a 
fear  of  failure  as  an  incitement  to  diligence  in 
labour.  On  the  contrary,  the  context  demands 
an  encouraging,  not  a  warning,  note  for  the  ex- 
hortation. This  raises  the  suspicion  that  we  may 
have  mistaken  the  sense  of  Paul  in  the  use  of  the 
phrase  "with  fear  and  trembling."  And  a  closer 
scrutiny  confirms  this  suspicion.  The  colloca- 
tion of  the  two  words  "fear"  and  "trembling,"  it 
seems,  had  become  something  of  a  set  formula 
with  the  Apostle,  possibly  grounded  in  the  usage 
of  the  two  together  in  such  passages  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint  as  Genesis  9 :2,  Is.  19 :16;  and  this  formula 
seems  no  longer  to  have  had  the  value  to  him  of 
the  two  words  in  combination,  but  rather  to  have 
come  to  express  little  more  than  the  proper  rev- 
erence due  to  a  superior.  For  example,  in  Ephe- 
sians  6:5,  when  the  Apostle  exhorts  servants  to 
be  obedient  to  their  masters  "with  fear  and 
trembling,"  he  can  scarcely  intend  to  recommend 
to  servants  a  spirit  of  craven  fear  before  their 
master's  face.  Did  he  not  rather  wish  to  com- 
mend to  them  an  appropriate  recognition  of  the 
distance  between  master  and  slave,  and  the  re- 
spectful reverence  befitting  the  relation  in  which 


310  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

they  stood?  So  in  2  Cor.  7:15,  when  we  are  told 
that  the  Corinthians  received  Titus  "with  fear 
and  trembHng,"  we  are  surely  not  to  understand 
that  they  received  him  with  a  vivid  dread  lest 
they  should  fall  short  of  winning  his  favour,  but 
rather  simply  that  they  received  him  with  the 
respect  and  obedience  due  to  his  official  position 
as  one  set  over  them  in  the  Lord.  Similarly,  in 
1  Cor.  2:3,  the  Apostle  surely  means  only  to  say 
that  he  acted  in  his  work  at  Corinth  with  due 
respect  to  his  commission  and  subjection  to  the 
Spirit  who  accompanied  his  preaching  with  His 
power. 

In  a  word,  it  is  clear  enough  that  in  the  phrase 
"with  fear  and  trembling,"  we  have  to  do  with  a 
set  formula,  which,  in  the  Apostle's  mind  and 
lips,  finds  its  reference  to  the  attitude  of  depend- 
ence, reverence  and  obedience  befitting  an  in- 
ferior, and  is,  therefore,  especially  related  to  the 
ideas  of  submissiveness  and  subjection.  It  owes 
its  place  in  our  present  passage  obviously  to  its 
correlation  with  the  immediately  precedent  phrase, 
"As  ye  have  always  obeyed"  (verse  12),  which 
itself  goes  back  to  the  obedience  of  Christ's  great 
example  (verse  8).  If  Chrysostom,  therefore,  is 
formally  wrong  in,  without  more  ado,  para- 
phrasing it  by  "with  humility  of  spirit,"  he  is  not 
so  far  astray  as  might  at  first  sight  be  thought  in 
the  substance  of  the  matter.  What  the  Apostle 
would  seem  to  say,  in  effect  is  just  this:    "As  ye 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  311 

have  always  hitherto  been  submissive,  so  let  it 
be  with  the  same  submissiveness  of  spirit  that  ye 
bring  your  salvation  to  its  completion,  seeing 
that,  as  you  know,  the  energizer  who  works  in 
you  both  the  willing  and  the  doing  is  God,  in  pur- 
suance of  His  good  pleasure."  It  is  to  reverence, 
obedience,  humility  in  their  Christian  walk  in 
the  consciousness  of  the  same  power  of  God  oper- 
ating in  them,  to  which  he  exhorts  his  readers; 
not  to  terror  and  dread  lest  after  all  their  labour 
they  might  yet  prove  to  be  castaways.  It  is  not 
the  difficulty  of  the  task  that  he  is  emphasizing; 
but  the  solemnity  of  it. 

It  is  under  the  encouragement  of  these  two  great 
facts,  then,  that  Paul  here  stirs  up  his  Philippian 
readers  to  the  sacred  work  of  advancing  in  the 
Christian  walk  steadily  to  the  great  end — the  ex- 
ample of  Christ  and  the  interior  working  of  God 
in  their  hearts.  We  have  ventured  to  speak  of 
the  latter  as  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  not  mentioned  by  name.  But 
it  is  obviously  His  indwelling  work  that  is  ad- 
verted to;  and  accordingly  the  seventh  chapter  of 
Romans,  with  its  sequel  in  the  eighth  chapter, 
really  provides  an  extended  commentary  on  this 
passage.  The  process  which  is  there  displayed 
to  us,  as  the  new  power  not  ourselves  making  for 
righteousness  is  implanted  in  the  heart,  and  from 
that  vantage  ground  wages  its  victorious  war 
against  the  sin  still  entrenched  in  the  members. 


312  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

is  here  compressed  for  us  into  one  sharp,  crisp 
word  of  declaration.  The  Christian  works  out 
his  own  salvation  under  the  energizing  of  God,  to 
whose  energizing  is  due  every  impulse  to  good  that 
rises  in  him,  every  determination  to  good  which 
he  frames,  every  execution  of  a  good  purpose 
which  he  carries  into  effect.  And  in  view  of  the 
great  fact  that  this  power  within  him  making  for 
righteousness  is  none  other  than  God  Himself, 
surely  the  only  proper  attitude  for  the  Christian 
in  working  out  His  salvation  is  one  of  "fear  and 
trembling," — of  awe  and  reverence  in  the  presence 
of  the  Holy  One,  of  submission  and  obedience  to 
His  leading,  of  dependence  and  trust  on  His 
guidance.  This,  in  effect,  seems  to  be  the  Apos- 
tle's meaning.  It  is,  in  a  word,  an  uncovering  of  the 
sources  of  sanctification,  and  a  reference  of  it  as  to 
its  origin  in  every  step  to  God's  gracious  activities. 

We  may  then  perhaps  attempt  a  paraphrase  of 
the  passage.  "So,  then,  my  beloved,  in  view  of 
Christ's  great  example  of  self-abnegation — even 
as  ye  have  always  obeyed,  so  now,  not  as  if  it  were 
only  because  I  was  present,  but  much  more  just 
because  I  am  absent,  let  it  be  in  a  spirit  of  rever- 
ent submissiveness  that  you  carry  your  salvation 
to  its  completion.  For  remember  that  He  that 
effects  in  you  not  only  the  willing  but  also  the 
doing,  is  none  other  than  God  Himself.  And  He 
does  it  in  pursuance  of  His  good  pleasure."  Or 
more  at  large :  "  Under  the  inspiration  of  this  great 


WORKING  OUT  SALVATION  313 

example  that  Christ  Jesus  has  set  us,  an  example 
of  humble  submission  even  down  to  death,  and 
of  His  consequent  reward,  I  may  repeat  and 
strengthen  my  exhortation  to  you.  I  gladly  allow 
that  you  have  never  been  failing  in  submissiveness 
of  spirit.  When  I  was  present  with  you  I  saw  it 
and  rejoiced  in  it.  I  trust  it  was  not  due  to  my 
presence  only  that  you  were  able  to  exhibit  so 
Christlike  a  disposition.  After  all,  it  is  not  my 
pleasure  but  your  own  salvation  that  should  pri- 
marily engage  your  thoughts.  And  if  my  presence 
were,  indeed,  useful  to  you,  how  much  more  effort 
should  you  make,  now  that  I  can  no  longer  be 
with  you  and  you  are  thrown  on  your  own  re- 
sources. Nay,  let  me  not  so  speak.  You  are  not 
in  any  case  thrown  on  your  own  resources.  Let  it 
be  with  godly  awe  in  your  hearts  and  reverent 
fear  of  mind  that  you  engage  in  this  solemn  work. 
For  it  is,  you  remember,  none  other  than  God 
Himself  who  prompts  you  to  the  effort, — whose  it 
is  to  effect  within  you  both  the  wish  and  the  per- 
formance :  and  this  He  does  in  the  prosecution  of 
His  blessed  purpose  of  good  towards  you.  It  is 
in  His  hands  that  you  are  in  this  work:  it  is  thus  a 
holy  work — in  the  prosecution  of  which  you  may, 
therefore,  well  put  off  the  sandals  from  your  feet. 
In  devout  submissiveness,  then,  carry  it  on,  with 
all  diligence,  and  depend  on  no  creature's  impulse  or 
help :  it  is  God  who  in  it  works  in  and  through  you 
and  so  fulfils  His  gracious  will  with  respect  to  you." 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS 

Phil.  3:9: — "And  be  found  in  Him,  not  having  a  righteousness 
of  mine  own,  even  that  which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is 
through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith." 

"When  we  attempt  to  gain  an  apprehension  of 
Paul's  doctrine  of  salvation  on  the  ground  of  an 
alien  righteousness,"  remarks  Professor  George 
B.  Stevens,  "we  must  bear  in  mind  that  Paul  was 
waging  an  intense  polemic — the  great  conflict  of 
his  life."  The  remark  is  true  enough  in  itself,  but 
will  scarcely  warrant  Professor  Stevens'  inference 
from  it,  namely,  that  we  must  be  careful  therefore 
not  to  take  Paul's  statements  in  this  matter  au 
pied  de  la  lettre;  that  we  must  expect  (and  will 
find)  ascertain  exaggeration  in  his  language  at  this 
polemic  point,  a  certain  one-sidedness  in  his  as- 
sertions; and  be,  therefore,  prepared  to  tone  down 
the  extremity  of  his  statements  to  more  reason- 
able proportions.  From  this  warning  of  Pro- 
fessor Stevens'  we  may,  perhaps,  learn  this  much, 
however:  that  Paul's  statements  at  this  point  are 
radical  and  leave  little  room  for  that  nice  balancing 
so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  so-called  "moderate" 
thinkers,  by  which  they  would  fain  retain  some 
room  for  glorying  in  the  flesh  while  yet  joining 
in  the  universal  song  of  the  saints  of  God,  Gloria 
Deo  Soli. 

314 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  315 

It  is  clear,  at  once,  that  the  forms  of  Paul's 
language  at  least  do  not  easily  lend  themselves 
to  the  notion  that,  though  Divine  aid  is  requisite 
to  salvation,  yet  the  fundamental  movement 
thereunto  must  be  of  man's  own  making;  or 
even  that,  though  salvation  is  predominatingly 
from  God,  yet  this  is  not  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
necessity  on  man's  part  of  at  least  assent  and  con- 
sent to  the  Divine  working;  that  if  the  basis  of 
the  Divine  acceptance  of  man  is  to  be  found  in 
the  work  of  Christ,  at  least  faith  is  demanded  of 
man  as  the  condition  on  the  performance  of  which 
alone  will  this  acceptance  be  accorded  to  him.  It 
is  something  like  this  that  Professor  Stevens 
wishes  to  reserve  to  man  as  his  part  in  salvation. 
And  it  is  in  his  effort  to  rescue  this  to  man  from 
the  obviously  unwilling  hands  of  Paul  that  he  is 
led  to  remark  that  Paul's  language  must  be  inter- 
preted as  that  of  a  headlong  controversialist, 
who  in  his  zeal  falls  into  "a  certain  one-sided- 
ness"  in  his  representations,  and  keys  his  reason- 
ings so  high  that  they  must  be  taken  rather  as 
"purposely  one-sided  argumenta  ad  hominem" 
and  do  not  fairly  set  forth  perhaps  Paul's  whole 
thought  on  the  subject.  Whence,  we  say,  it 
seems  perfectly  clear  that  the  language  of  Paul, 
taken  as  it  stands,  excludes  even  so  much  of  a 
human  element  lying  at  the  basis  of  salvation. 
What  he  says — whatever  he  means — is  obviously 
that  our  own  righteousness — in  every  item  and 


316  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

degree  of  it — is  wholly  excluded  from  the  ground 
of  our  salvation;  and  the  righteousness  provided 
by  God  in  Christ  is  the  sole  ground  of  our  accept- 
ance in  His  sight.  According  to  his  express 
statements,  at  least,  we  are  saved  entirely  on  the 
ground  of  an  alien  righteousness  and  not  at  all  on 
the  ground  of  anything  we  are  or  have  done,  or 
can  do, — ^be  it  even  so  small  a  matter  as  believing. 
For  the  rest,  true  as  it  is  that  in  this  matter 
Paul  was  involved  in  an  ineradicable  conflict  with 
the  Judaizers — in  what  may  be  with  good  right 
called  indeed  "the  conflict  of  his  life" — it  is 
very  easy  to  press  beyond  the  mark  in  our  esti- 
mate of  the  effect  of  this  conflict  upon  his  thought 
or  even  upon  his  language.  After  all,  Paul's  in- 
terest in  the  ground  of  human  salvation  was  a 
positive  one,  rather  than  a  negative  one.  In  the 
providence  of  God  he  was  led  to  develop  his  doc- 
trine of  salvation  for  the  benefit  of  his  disciples  in 
conflict  with  Judaizers;  and  we  view  it  to-day 
in  the  forms  of  statement  given  it  under  the  neces- 
sities of  that  controversy.  But  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  he  would  not  have  taught  precisely 
that  same  doctrine  of  salvation,  though,  doubt- 
less, in  different  forms  of  statement,  had  he  been 
required  to  meet  erroneous  teaching  of  a  totally 
different  kind,  proceeding  from  a  wholly  different 
quarter — that  is,  if  we  really  believe  that  the 
essence  of  his  doctrine  is  the  truth  of  God,  given 
him  by  revelation,  and  not  merely  his  personal 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  317 

position  assumed  to  hold  standing  ground  for  him- 
self as  a  determined  opponent  of  the  old  Jewish 
party  in  the  Church.     In  other  words,  the  con- 
flict with  the  Judaizers  was  not  first  with  Paul  and 
his  doctrine  of  salvation  second,  either  in  time  or 
importance;  but,  on  the  contrary,  his  doctrine  of 
salvation  was  first  and  his  controversy  with  the 
Judaizers  both  subsequent  and  consequent  to  it. 
He  did  not  hold  this  doctrine  of  salvation  because 
he  polemicized  the  Judaizers,  but  he  polemicized 
the  Judaizers  because  he  held   this   doctrine  of 
salvation.     He  did  not  attain  this  doctrine  of  sal- 
vation then  in  controversy  with  the  Judaizers, 
but  he  controverted  the  Judaizers  because  their 
teaching    impinged    on    this    precious    doctrine. 
Though,  therefore,  the  forms  in  which  he  states  the 
doctrine  in  these  epistles  take  shape  from  the  fact 
that  he  is  rebutting  the  assaults  on  it  and  the 
subtle  undermining  of  it  derived  from  the  con- 
ceptions of  the  Judaizers,  the  doctrine  stated  is 
prior  in  the  order  of  time  and  thought  in  his  mind 
to  the  rise  of  the  danger  to  it  which  he  is  repelling 
in    these  expressions.      The  interest  and  impor- 
tance of  this  to  us  is  that  it  thereby  is  brought  to* 
our  clear  consciousness  that  Paul's  fundamental 
interest  in  this  matter  turns  not  on  the  violence 
of  his  conflict  with  the  Judaizers  but  on  the  pro- 
fundity of  his  conviction  of  the  truth  of  his  po- 
sition.     Whenever  he  replies  to  the    Judaizers' 
assault    in    whatever    sharpness    of  rebuke   and 


318  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

keenness  of  polemic  thrust,  his  primary  interest 
is  not  in  silencing  his  opponents  but  in  uphold- 
ing his  teaching. 

We  could  not  have  a  better  illustration  of  this 
than  in  the  passage  now  before  us.  The  whole  of 
it  is  suffused  with  an  emotion  which  is  far  deeper 
and  far  purer  than  polemic  zeal.  Nowhere  do 
Paul's  polemics  burn  more  fiercely.  Nowhere  is 
his  language  sharper  or  his  expressions  more  "ex- 
treme." But  nowhere  is  it  clearer  that  his  heart 
is  set  on  higher  things  than  on  the  refutation  of 
errorists  whom  he  would  correct;  and  nowhere  is 
it  less  legitimate  to  pare  down  his  expressions  to 
the  level  of  mere  controversial  violence.  The 
Apostle  as  he  opened  the  third  chapter  of  this 
Epistle  was  contemplating  drawing  it  to  a  close. 
"Finally,  my  brethren,"  he  says,  using  the  familiar 
formula  for  introducing  the  concluding  words, — 
"finally,  my  brethren,"  he  says,  closing  the  let- 
ter, as  is  his  wont,  with  some  striking  fundamen- 
tal thought  that  would  abide  in  the  mind  of  his 
readers  as  a  last  message  to  their  souls, — "finally, 
my  brethren,  let  your  joy  be  in  the  Lord."  This 
is  no  mere  formula  of  farewell,  as  some,  misled 
by  the  "rejoice" — which  is  to  be  sure  an  ordinary 
formula  of  epistolary  salutation — ^have  imagined. 
The  conception  of  Christian  rejoicing  is  a  funda- 
mental note  of  this  letter,  and  here  it  has  all  the 
emphasis  that  this  gives  it.  And  it  is  not  merely 
the  idea  of  rejoicing  that  is  here  emphatic,  but 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  319 

the  added  idea  of  rejoicing  "in  the  Lord."  "Fi- 
nally, my  brethren,"  says  the  Apostle,  "let  your 
joy  be  in  the  Lord."  Ah,  this  is  where  the 
Apostle's  heart  is  as  he  opens  this  paragraph — 
this  is  the  thought  he  would  leave  with  his  readers. 
"Let  your  joy  be  in  the  Lord" — not  in  your- 
selves, but  in  the  Lord.  We  should  say,  perhaps, 
rather.  Let  your  boast  be  in  the  Lord;  let  your 
glorying  be  only  in  the  Lord.  It  means  funda- 
mentally the  same  thing.  The  Apostle  would 
bring  his  letter  to  a  close  by  reminding  his  readers 
of  the  very  core  of  the  saving  proclamation. 
They  are  saved — not  self -saving  souls.  Let  them 
rejoice,  let  them  continually  joy,  in  the  Lord ! 

This  is  not  a  new  theme  with  the  Apostle.  It  is 
rather  one  of  his  favourite  subjects,  this  of  boast- 
ing in  Christ  Jesus.  He  is  conscious  that  he 
harps  on  it.  But  he  is  not  ashamed  of  harping 
on  it;  it  is  the  heart  of  the  Gospel  and  he  is  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  But  he  makes 
a  quasi-apology  for  so  harping  on  it.  "I  know 
this  is  repetitious,"  he  says  at  once,  "but  I  like 
to  say  it,  and  it  may  be  useful  to  you."  "To 
write  the  same  things  to  you,  to  me  on  the  one 
hand  is  not  irksome,  but  to  you  on  the  other  it  is 
safe."  It  is  a  joy  to  Paul  to  cry  over  and  over 
and  over  again,  "Let  your  joy  be  in  the  Lord"; 
in  Him  only  put  your  boasting;  in  Him  alone  do 
your  glorying;  and  it  is  a  safe  thing  to  impress  on 
his  readers.     At  the  mention  of  this,  the  floods  of 


320  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

polemics  rush  in.  Paul  remembers  those  who 
were  endangering  the  purity  of  this  attitude  of 
dependence  on  the  Lord  alone  in  his  flocks,  and 
remembering  them,  what  can  he  do  but  burst  out 
with  renewed  warnings? 

So  the  letter  does  not  close,  after  all,  at  this 
point,  but  instead,  we  have  the  sharp  exhortation, 
"Mark  ye  the  dogs!  Mark  ye  the  evil  workers! 
Mark  ye  the  concision!"  Why  does  his  polemic 
burn  so  hotly  against  these  men?  Simply  be- 
cause they  endangered  that  attitude  which  he  was 
impressing  on  his  readers,  and  in  which  the  whole 
Gospel  consisted  for  him — the  attitude  of  entire 
dependence  on  Christ  to  the  exclusion  of  every- 
thing in  themselves.  Accordingly  his  rapid  and 
clearly  cut  speech  leaps  at  once  into  the  reason: 
"Mark  ye  the  concision, — the  concision  I  say,  the 
mere  imitation;  for  we  are  the  circumcision,  the 
real  sealed  ones  to  God,  who  worship  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  and  boast  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  put  no  con- 
fidence in  the  flesh." 

We  do  not  need  to  follow  the  subsequent  turns 
of  the  polemic  into  which  the  Apostle  here  enters. 
It  is  enough  for  us  to  note  that  the  language  abun- 
dantly confirms  the  interpretation  of  the  drift  of 
the  paragraph  and  the  intent  of  its  opening  words 
on  which  we  have  insisted.  Paul  exhorts  his 
readers  "to  let  their  joy  be  in  the  Lord,"  and  he 
repudiates  the  concision  on  the  express  ground 
that  their  claims  are  antagonistic  to  a  purely 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  321 

spiritual  worship,  to  boasting  in  Christ  Jesus  alone 
and  the  withdrawal  of  all  confidence  from  the 
flesh.  This  is  that  to  which  the  Apostle  is  en- 
gaged in  exhorting  his  readers  therefore — ^boasting 
in  Christ  Jesus  alone  and  the  removal  of  all  con- 
fidence in  the  flesh.  We  all  know  how  richly  he 
develops  this  idea  in  the  following  words — enu- 
merating his  own  high  claims  in  the  flesh  and  as- 
serting roundly  that  all  of  them  are  but  as  refuse 
to  him  in  the  matter  of  salvation.  Christ  Jesus  is 
all.  The  language  of  our  text  is  but  the  elabora- 
tion of  this  vital  idea  in  other  and  more  precise 
language.  All  that  he  is,  all  that  he  has  sought 
after,  all  that  he  has  done, — though  from  a  fleshly 
point  of  view  far  superior  to  what  most  men  can 
appeal  to — all,  all,  he  counts  (not  merely  useless 
but)  loss,  all  one  mass  of  loss,  to  be  cast  away  and 
buried  in  the  sea,  "that  he  may  gain  Christ  and 
be  found  in  Him."  On  the  one  side  stand  all 
human  works — they  are  all  loss.  On  the  other 
hand  stands  Christ — He  is  all  in  all.  That  is  the 
contrast.  And  this  is  the  contrast  re-expressed 
more  formally  in  our  text:  "not  having  my  own 
righteousness  that  is  out  of  law,  but  that  which  is 
through  faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness  that 
is  from  God  on  faith." 

The  contrast  is  between  the  righteousness  which 
a  man  can  make  for  himself  and  the  righteousness 
that  God  gives  him.  And  the  contrast  is  abso- 
lute.    On  the  one,  in  the  height  and  the  breadth 


322  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

of  its  whole  idea — we  cannot  exaggerate  here — 
Paul  pours  contempt,  as  a  basis  or,  nay,  even  the 
least  part  of  the  basis,  of  salvation.  On  the  other, 
exclusively,  he  bases  the  totality  of  salvation. 
The  outcome  is,  that  not  merely  polemically  but 
fundamentally,  he  founds  salvation  solely  on  an 
alien  righteousness,  with  the  express  exclusion 
of  every  item  of  our  own  righteousness.  The 
whole  contents  of  the  passage  demands  this  as 
Paul's  fundamental  thought. 

Now,  it  is  not  necessary  for  us,  on  this  occasion, 
to  stop  to  analyze  in  its  details  Paul's  thought; 
to  show  by  detailed  exposition  how  utterly  the 
righteousness  rejected  by  him  is  rejected  and  how 
exclusively  the  righteousness  laid  hold  of  by  him 
is  trusted  in,  and  how  completely  the  ground  of 
our  trust  is  cleansed  by  Paul  from  every  scintilla 
of  human  works.  It  will  suffice  for  the  present  to 
accept  the  discrimination  he  makes  in  the  large 
and  to  try  to  realize  how  fully  to  him  the  totality 
of  the  Gospel  lay  just  in  this  discrimination.  The 
Gospel,  to  Paul,  consists  precisely  in  this:  that 
we  do  nothing  to  earn  our  salvation  or  to  secure 
it  for  ourselves.     God  in  Christ  does  it  all. 

It  is  easy,  of  course,  to  brand  such  an  assertion 
as  immoral.  Men  were  not  slow  to  brand  it  as 
immoral  in  Paul's  day,  and  men  are  not  slow  to 
brand  it  as  immoral  ("unethical"  is  their  way  of 
phrasmg  it)  to-day.  "What,"  they  say,  "we  are 
to  do  nothing!     Christ  does  it  all!     Nothing  de- 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  323 

pends  on  us!  Not  even  our  believing!  Then,  let 
us  eat,  drink  and  be  merry!"  They  do  not  stop 
to  consider  that  the  repetition  against  those  who 
draw  this  doctrine  from  Paul's  teaching,  of  pre- 
cisely the  same  charge  that  was  urged  against 
Paul,  is  the  last  thing  which  could  be  needed  to 
prove  that  Paul  has  not  been  misunderstood  when 
he  is  interpreted  as  advancing  by  set  purpose  just 
this  doctrine.  Paul  does  not  meet  the  charge  by 
explaining  that  he  wishes  his  words  concerning 
the  exclusion  of  all  our  righteousness  from  the 
ground  of  salvation  to  be  taken  cum  grano  sails;  but 
by  explaining  that,  being  saved  not  indeed  "out  of 
works"  but  certainly  "unto  good  works,"  we 
cannot  walk  in  sin  and  yet  be  saved.  This  posit- 
ing of  a  new  antithesis,  not  out  of  works  but  unto 
good  works,  clinches  the  essence  of  his  doctrine, 
and  may  be  adopted  by  us  as  the  sole  defence  it 
needs  against  the  accusations  of  men. 

You  remember  how  Mr.  J.  A.  Froude  in  a 
famous  essay  adduced  as  a  speaking  evidence  of 
the  "immorality  of  Evangelicalism,"  the  well- 
known  revival  hymn  beginning: 

"Nothing  either  great  or  small. 
Nothing,  sinner,  no; 
Jesus  did  it,  did  it  all. 
Long,  long,  ago." 

What  was  particularly  offensive  to  him  was  the 
assertion  that 


324  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

"Doing  is  a  deadly  thing. 
Doing  ends  in  death"; 

and  the  consequent  exhortation 

"Cast  your  deadly  doing  down, 
Down  at  Jesus'  feet, 
Stand  in  Him,  in  Him  alone. 
Gloriously  complete." 

It  is,  nevertheless,  the  very  cor  cordis  of  the  Gos- 
pel that  is  here  brought  under  fire.  The  one  anti- 
thesis of  all  the  ages  is  that  between  the  rival 
formulse:  Do  this  and  live,  and,  Live  and  do  this; 
Do  and  be  saved,  and  Be  saved  and  do.  And  the 
one  thing  that  determines  whether  we  trust  in 
God  for  salvation  or  would  fain  save  ourselves  is, 
how  such  formulae  appeal  to  us.  Do  we,  like  the 
rich  young  ruler,  feel  that  we  must  "do  some  good 
thing"  in  order  that  we  may  be  saved?  Then, 
assuredly,  we  are  not  yet  prepared  to  trust  our 
salvation  to  Christ  alone — to  sell  all  that  we  have 
and  follow  Him.  Just  in  proportion  as  we  are 
striving  to  supplement  or  to  supplant  His  perfect 
work,  just  in  that  proportion  is  our  hope  of  sal- 
vation resting  on  works,  and  not  on  faith.  Ethi- 
cism  and  solafideanism — these  are  the  eternal 
contraries,  mutually  exclusive.  It  must  be  faith 
or  works;  it  can  never  be  faith  and  works.  And 
the  fundamental  exhortation  which  we  must  ever 
be  giving  our  souls  is  clearly  expressed  in  the  words 
of  the  hymn,  "Cast  your  deadly  doing  down." 
Only  when  that  is  completely  done  is  it  really 


THE  ALIEN  RIGHTEOUSNESS  325 

Christ  Only,  Christ  All  in  All,  with  us;  only  then, 
do  we  obey  fully  Paul's  final  exhortation:  "Let 
your  joy  be  in  the  Lord."  Only  then  do  we  re- 
nounce utterly  "our  own  righteousness,  that  out 
of  law,"  and  rest  solely  on  "that  which  is  through 
faith  in  Christ,  the  righteousness  of  God  on 
faith." 


PEACE  WITH   GOD 

Phil.  4:7: — "And  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing, shall  guard  your  hearts  and  your  thoughts  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

The  exact  phrase  which  we  have  given  as  the 
subject  of  our  reflection  this  afternoon,  though 
one  of  the  most  familiar  phrases  in  our  religious 
speech,  has  a  very  slender  claim  to  be  looked  upon 
as  Biblical.  It  occurs  but  once  in  the  Bible 
(Rom.  5:1),  and  then,  as  it  seems  to  me  (though 
on  this  the  commentators  differ),  not  in  its  fun- 
damental sense,  or  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  prob- 
ably most  prominent  in  the  minds  of  most  of  us 
here  this  afternoon,  but  in  its  subjective  sense  of 
consciousness  of  peace  with  God.  The  thing  de- 
noted by  the  phrase  is  of  course  a  frequent  and 
basal  idea  in  Scripture,  though  not  expressed  by 
the  exact  phrase  now  before  us.  The  correlated 
terms  "enmity,"  "reconciliation,"  "peace,"  occur 
with  sufficient  frequency  and  express  what  may 
properly  be  called  a  fundamental  idea  of  the 
Gospel. 

We  are  told  that  we  are  naturally  "enemies"  of 
God,  that  God  looks  upon  us  as  such,  and  that  we 
cherish  the  feelings  appropriate  to  that  condi- 
tion— being  enemies  in  our  minds  by  wicked 
works,  and  because  of  a  carnal  mind  necessarily  at 

326 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  327 

enmity  with  the  Holy  God.  This  enmity  we  are 
told  Christ  has  "abolished,"  "slain"  on  His  cross, 
"reconciling"  us  with  God  by  His  propitiatory 
work.  As  a  result  of  this  "propitiation,"  we  are 
told,  He  has  made  "peace"  (Eph.  2:18);  and, 
therefore.  He  is  called  "our  peace,"  and  His  Gos- 
pel, "the  Gospel  of  peace"  (Rom.  10:15;  Eph. 
6:15).  His  whole  work  was  "that  we  might  have 
peace  in  Him"  (Jno.  16:33),  and  His  gospel  con- 
sisted in  "preaching  peace  by  Jesus"  (Acts  10:36). 
Even  in  the  Old  Testament  prophecy.  He  is  prom- 
ised as  the  "Prince  of  Peace"  (Isa.  9:6),  and  it  is 
clearly  perceived  that  He  is  such  because  the 
"chastisement  of  our  peace  shall  be  on  Him" 
(Isa.  53 :5) ;  in  other  words,  because  that  punish- 
ment by  which  our  sins  are  expiated  and  we  are 
reconciled  with  God  should  be  borne  by  Him. 

There  is  no  lack,  therefore,  of  the  most  explicit 
enunciation  in  Scripture  of  the  fact  which  our 
phrase  expresses;  it  is  rather  one  of  the  pervading 
representations  of  Scripture  that  we  are  at  en- 
mity with  God  and  can  have  peace  with  Him  only 
in  the  blood  of  Christ.  Only  it  so  happens  that 
the  connection  in  which  the  word  "peace"  occurs 
most  frequently  in  Scripture  is  one  which  raises 
our  eyes  rather  to  God  as  the  giver  of  peace  than 
emphasizes  the  fact  that  it  is  with  Him  that  the 
peace  is  established.  "Peace  from  God"  hap- 
pens, therefore,  to  be  a  commoner  Scriptural 
locution  than  "peace  with  God."   "I  will  give  unto 


328  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

him  my  covenant  of  peace"  (Numb.  28:12), 
though  not  spoken  with  this  broad  implication 
may  almost  be  represented  as  the  primary  promise 
of  the  Old  Covenant,  under  which  the  longing  of 
God's  people  expressed  itself  in  the  assurance  that 
"He  would  speak  peace  with  His  people  and  to 
His  saints"  (Psa.  85:8).  Wherefore  that  Old 
Covenant  saint  upon  whose  glad  eyes  the  dawn  of 
salvation  had  fallen,  expresses  his  joy  that  the 
coming  of  the  Day-spring  from  on  high  was  a 
promise  that  now,  at  length,  the  feet  of  God's 
people  should  be  guided  in  the  way  of  peace  (Luke 
1:79).  Accordingly  Jesus  represents  the  result  of 
His  work  as  giving  peace  to  His  followers  (Jno. 
16:33) — "My  peace  I  leave  with  you,  my  peace  I 
give  unto  you"  (Jno.  16:27),  and  His  disciples 
going  everywhere  "preached  peace  by  Jesus" 
(Acts  10:36).  It  is  the  "peace  of  God"  that 
passeth  all  understanding,  that  the  Apostle  would 
have  rule  in  the  hearts  of  His  converts  (Phil.  4:7); 
and  the  prayer  that  "peace  from  God"  should  be 
on  them  became  the  fixed  form  of  Apostolic  ben- 
ediction (Rom.  1:7). 

This  pervading  longing  for  peace  and  promise 
of  it  as  one  of  the  most  precious  gifts  of  God,  cer- 
tainly enhances  our  sense  of  its  value.  Perhaps 
we  may  say  that  the  chief  difference  in  the  feeling 
of  the  two  terms  "peace  from  God"  and  "peace 
with  God"  is  that  the  primary  emphasis  in  the 
former    falls    naturally    on    subjective    peace — 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  329 

though  by  no  means  to  the  exclusion  of  objective 
peace;  while,  with  the  latter  the  reverse  is  the 
case.  When  we  speak  of  "peace  from  God" 
coming  upon  us,  of  the  peace  of  God  that  passes 
all  understanding  "sen trying"  our  hearts  and 
thoughts,  of  the  peace  of  Jesus  which  He  left  with 
us,  when  He  added:  "Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled,  neither  let  it  be  fearful,"  we  necessarily 
think  first  of  all  of  the  deep  sense  of  inner  peace 
and  satisfaction  which  pervades  the  hearts  of 
none  in  the  world  who  have  not  "found  their 
peace"  as  we  say,  in  Christ.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  we  speak  of  "peace  with  God"  our  thoughts 
go  primarily  back  to  that  great  transaction  on 
Calvary  when  He  who  is  our  peace  reconciled  us 
to  God  by  His  cross,  having  slain  the  enmity 
thereon;  and  we  who  were  alienated  in  our  wicked 
minds  from  Him  were  brought  nigh  in  the  blood 
of  Christ.  We  cannot  think  of  the  one,  indeed, 
without  thinking  of  the  other;  nor  can  one  exist 
apart  from  the  other.  We  cannot  have  peace  of 
heart,  until  our  real  and  actual  separation  from 
God  is  bridged  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  We  can- 
not have  the  breach  between  God  and  us  healed 
without  a  sense  of  the  new  relation  of  peace  steal- 
ing into  our  hearts.  And  possibly  we  cannot  do 
better  to-day  than  just  to  realize  how  inter- 
dependent the  two  are  and  how  rich  the  peace  is 
which  we  obtain  in  Christ  Jesus. 

To  this  end,  let  us  consider  (1)  the  utter  lack  of 


330  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

peace  which  man  suffers  by  nature;  (2)  the  full- 
ness of  peace  brought  to  us  by  Jesus;  and  (3)  the 
process  by  which  this  peace  is  made  the  possession 
of  the  mind  and  soul. 

It  is  a  curious  thing  if  you  look  at  it,  how  little 
peace  man  out  of  Christ,  that  is,  apart  from  God 
and  His  right  relation  to  him,  has  in  the  world; 
how  utterly  out  of  joint  he  is — at  war,  in  fact — 
with  even  his  physical  environment.  Every 
other  creature  finds  a  place  for  itself  in  nature; 
nature  cares  for  them  all.  "She  spreads  a  table 
for  the  tiger  in  the  jungle,  for  the  buffalo  on  the 
prairie,  for  the  dragon-fly  above  the  summer 
brook."  But  she  spreads  no  table  for  man. 
Foxes  may  have  holes  and  the  birds  of  the  air, 
nests;  but  like  his  Lord,  man  has  no  place  in  na- 
ture where  he  can  safely  lay  his  head.  As  a  mere 
animal,  he  is  the  weakest  and  most  helpless  of  all, 
with  no  natural  covering  to  keep  him  warm,  with 
no  natural  weapons  to  protect  himself,  with  no 
speed  for  escape,  and  no  cunning  for  hiding.  The 
sun  burns  him  and  the  winter  freezes  him.  A 
brilliant  writer,  upon  whom  I  am  drawing  very 
freely  in  these  paragraphs,  calls  him  justly,  the  step- 
child of  time.  Revelation  accounts  for  it  by  the  fall. 
Man  stood  at  the  gate  of  Eden,  an  exile,  facing  a 
wild  world,  a  world  of  briers  and  thorns,  of  hos- 
tile fears,  of  death.  What  man  out  of  Christ 
thinks  of  it,  the  myths  he  has  invented  tell  us; 
from  the  shrinking  terror  of  the  fetish  worshipper 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  331 

at  every  old  bone  or  bit  of  stick,  to  the  weird 
shapes  and  glowing  myths  of  our  own  Scandina- 
vian fathers.  Man  knows  himself  to  be  at  war 
with  the  world. 

It  is  much  if  he  can  get  his  food.  Most  do  not. 
But  food  does  not  satisfy  him.  "  Put  an  ox  in  a 
fat  pasture  beside  a  clear  stream  and  the  ox  is  as 
happy  as  an  ox  can  be.  The  hungry  tiger  with 
reeking  jaws,  tearing  the  slaughtered  buffalo,  is 
happy  to  the  utmost  limit  of  tiger  nature."  But 
after  man  has  conquered  nature,  he  is  still  not  at 
peace  with  her.  He  is  no  happier  in  the  palace 
than  in  the  hut. 

"  In  the  cool  hall  with  haggard  eyes 
The  Roman  nobly  lay; 
Then  rose  and  drove  in  furious  wise 
Along  the  Appian  Way. 

He  made  a  feast,  drank  fierce  and  fast 
And  crowned  his  head  with  flowers. 

No  easier  and  no  swifter  passed 
The  impracticable  hours." 

Man  assuredly  is  at  odds  with  nature;  but  not 
only  with  nature,  there  is  something  deeper  than 
that.  Man  is  at  odds  with  himself.  So  that, 
even  though  he  were  not  the  stepchild  of  nature 
and  all  that  is  external  to  him  existed  only  to  do 
his  pleasure,  so  that  like  the  lotus-eaters  he  could 
merely  lie  and  be  happy;  man  would  not  be 
happy.  The  deep  unrest  of  his  nature  has  a 
deeper  cause  than  merely  his  lack  of  physical  ad- 


332  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

justment  to  his  environment.  He  is  out  of  joint 
with  himself.  He  has  a  conscience  and  knows  the 
right.  But  he  also  knows  what  is  not  right.  And 
this  sense  of  sin,  ineradicable  instinct  in  every 
soul,  is  the  source  of  a  restless  uneasiness  which 
knows  and  can  know  no  peace.  His  very  dis- 
quietedness  with  nature  receives  half  its  terror 
from  it.  If  man  merely  felt  that  he  must  manip- 
ulate nature  for  his  comfort,  he  might,  at  least,  be 
inwardly  easy  or  troubled  only  by  those  natural 
anxieties  for  the  future  that  cluster  around  the 
questions,  What  shall  I  eat,  and  what  shall  I 
drink,  and  wherewith  shall  I  be  clothed.  But  his 
inward  unrest  clothes  nature  with  a  thousand 
terrors;  her  forces  become  avenging  furies,  her 
thunders  the  voice  of  an  accusing  God,  her  light- 
nings and  tornadoes — her  quietly  working  poisons 
of  miasma  and  disease — become  the  tools  of  God's 
anger.  Because  he  is  a  sinner,  man's  inward  war 
is  inflicted  on  his  outward  environment.  And 
his  conscience  it  is  that  will  give  him  no  peace. 

But  neither  is  conscience  the  ultimate  fact. 
As  the  terrors  of  nature  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
they  are  not  ultimate  but  point  upwards  and  in- 
wards to  the  war  in  the  heart,  so  the  terrors  of 
conscience  are  due  to  the  fact  that  they,  too,  are 
not  ultimate  but  point  upwards  to  a  higher  Power. 
Conscience  is  the  voice  of  God  proclaiming  war 
in  man;  and  through  it  man  knows  that  he  is  not 
at  peace  with  God.     Hence  its  pain  and  terror. 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  333 

Everywhere,  man  knows  that  because  he  is  a 
sinner,  he  is  at  enmity  with  God.  Man's  sense 
of  enmity  with  God  is  the  source  of  all  his  terror,  all 
his  unrest,  all  his  misery.  It  is  ineradicable  and 
universal.  It  must  abide  so  long  as  man  knows  he 
is  a  sinner.  But  so  long  as  it  abides,  he  cannot  be 
other  than  miserable. 

Now  the  Apostle,  in  the  text,  recognizing  this 
state  of  things,  promises  us  as  if  it  were  the  fun- 
damental blessing,  the  peace  of  God.  And  he 
promises  it  to  us  in  language  which  exhibits  his 
high  appreciation  of  its  nature.  He  calls  it,  a 
peace  that  passes  all  conception.  And  he  prom- 
ises it  as  something  that  will  guard  or  "sentry" 
our  hearts  and  thoughts — as  if  it  were  able  to 
keep  us  pure  and  holy  as  few  things  can.  Let  us 
note  then  in  opposition  to  the  restlessness  of  man's 
heart  by  nature  the  surpassingness  of  God's  peace. 

And  here,  note  especially,  the  universality  of 
this  peace  of  God;  how  it  supplies  the  whole  lack 
of  peace  in  which  we  are  by  nature. 

It  is  fundamentally  peace  with  God.  "But 
now  in  Christ  Jesus  ye  that  once  were  afar  off  are 
made  nigh  in  the  blood  of  Christ.  For  he  is  our 
peace,  who  made  both  one,  and  broke  down  the 
middle  wall  of  partition,  having  abolished  in  his 
flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  commandments 
and  ordinances,  that  he  might  create  in  himself 
of  the  twain  one  new  man,  so  making  peace;  and 
might  reconcile  them  both  in  one  body  unto  God 


334  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

through  his  cross,  having  slain  the  enmity  there- 
by." Christianity  does  not  come  crying  peace, 
peace,  when  there  is  no  peace,  and  when  we  know 
there  is  no  peace.  It  does  not  come  crying  that 
God  is  love  and  nothing  but  love,  and  the  Father 
of  all,  not  at  enmity  to  us,  not  needing  any  recon- 
ciliation. It  comes  recognizing  the  enmity  and 
laying  an  adequate  foundation  for  peace.  It  rec- 
ognizes our  sin  and  guilt  and  offers  an  atonement 
for  it.  It  recognizes  our  condemnation  and  makes 
provision  for  its  reversal.  It  institutes  peace  out 
of  war,  and  that  by  a  method  which  commands  our 
assent  as  complete,  availing,  effective.  Thus  it 
makes  peace  between  us  and  God. 

And  just  because  it  does  not  talk  of  a  peace 
already  existing  when  our  hearts  know  there  is 
war,  it  relieves  also  our  unrest  of  conscience  and 
brings  us  to  peace  with  ourselves.  Looking  upon 
the  satisfaction  of  Christ,  the  heart  can  comfort 
itself  in  the  knowledge  of  a  reconciled  God  and 
receive  His  promises  that  on  the  basis  of  that 
atonement  the  Spirit  shall  come  and  work  peace 
in  the  soul. 

And  once  again,  this  peace  of  soul  mightily 
works  to  produce  peace  in  our  environment,  for 
now  the  soul  no  longer  looks  upon  the  external 
world  as  its  enemy  and  no  longer  on  the  laws  of 
nature  as  purely  natural  forces,  grinding  out  evil 
for  it.  It  sees  that  in  nature  and  above  nature  a 
Father  sits — truly  a  Father,  now,  that  He  is  rec- 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  335 

onciled  to  us  in  Christ,  and  that  all  Providence  is 
in  His  hands,  touching  us.  In  nature  itself — in 
history — the  reconciled  soul  meets  God  and  per- 
ceives everywhere  the  hand  of  One  who  loves  him 
and  cares  for  him.  Amid  all  happenings  he  is 
peaceful  and  serene;  he  knows  nothing  can  harm 
him  now;  he  knows  nothing  can  take  away  his 
peace;  he  knows  that  all  things  shall  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  him.  The  external  world  is  no 
longer  his  enemy,  but  his  friend. 

In  our  absorption  with  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  fundamental  reconciliation  of  the  soul  with 
God  in  Christ  and  the  operation  of  the  Spirit 
working  peace  in  us,  we  are  apt  to  neglect  this  ele- 
ment of  peace,  in  which  we  are  ourselves  at  peace 
in  the  world,  no  longer  orphans  but  communing 
with  God  in  all  our  happenings.  How  important 
an  aspect  of  the  matter  it  is  may  be  advertised 
to  us  by  the  comfort  which  the  theologians  of  the 
school  of  Ritschl  find  in  it,  the  only  form  of  com- 
munion with  God  they  acknowledge,  and  how  it 
fills  their  hearts  to  be  able  by  the  revelation  of 
Christ  to  look  on  the  world  as  God's  Kingdom  in 
which  His  children  are  not  orphans  but  sons  of  a 
living  God. 

The  inestimable  value  of  the  peace  of  God  is 
apparent  next  from  the  reasonableness  and  surety 
of  this  peace.  There  may  be  a  peace  which  is  not 
reasonable;  a  peace  which  is  not  assured.  The 
worldly  man's  peace  on  which  he  strives  to  stay 


336  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

himself  is  of  this  kind ;  the  peace  of  a  drunkard  in  a 
house  on  fire,  the  peace  of  a  lunatic  who  fancies 
himself  a  king,  the  peace  of  a  fool  who  cries  Peace ! 
Peace!  when  there  is  no  peace.  Such  a  peace  can 
be  maintained  only  by  shutting  our  eyes  to  what 
we  are  and  where  we  are  and  the  relations  that 
actually  exist  about  us  and  between  us  and  God. 
Any  accident  that  calls  us  to  ourselves  destroys  it. 
Any  ray  of  true  light  arising  in  our  conscience  ex- 
tinguishes it.  And  when  evil  and  death  come, 
where  is  it  then.^^  But  God's  peace  is  a  rational 
peace,  and  a  stable  peace.  It  arises  not  from 
shutting  our  eyes  to  our  real  state,  but  from  open- 
ing them  to  it,  and  the  more  our  eyes  are  open  and 
the  more  we  reahze  our  real  condition,  under- 
standing what  Christ  is,  what  we  are,  and  what 
He  has  done  for  us,  the  more  peace  flows  into  our 
hearts.  The  more  searching  the  light  we  turn  on 
the  scene,  the  more  glorious  the  prospect.  Light 
turns  a  false  peace  into  torment.  Light  awakes 
in  the  countenance  of  the  true  peace,  happy  smiles. 

Is  this  peace  ours.'^  How  can  we  obtain  it? 
Whence  obtain  it.^^  We  must  distinguish.  It  is 
not  our  peace;  it  is  God's.  We  do  not  make  it; 
He  makes  it.  But  we  can  by  God's  grace  enjoy 
it  more  and  more. 

(1)  Its  foundation  is,  of  course,  in  Christ  and 
Christ's  work.  It  can  be  had  on  no  other  basis, 
in  no  other  way.  "Being  justified  by  faith,  we 
have  peace  with  God."     We  cannot  go  about  to 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  337 

establish  it;  we  should  be  doomed  to  utter  failure. 
We  are  by  nature  at  enmity  with  God.  No  peace 
can  be  found  until  that  enmity  is  removed.  It 
cannot  be  removed  by  aught  but  a  perfect  sac- 
rifice, a  perfect  righteousness.  Christ  alone  can 
do  it.  For  the  inestimable  peace  of  God,  there- 
fore, we  must  look  to  Christ.  It  can  have  no 
other  foundation  than  His  perfect  work. 

(2)  Its  formation  in  us  is,  of  course,  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  We  cannot  produce  it  for  ourselves,  even 
on  the  basis  of  Christ's  work.  A  fountain  cannot 
rise  higher  than  its  source  and  a  sure  and  stable 
peace — an  everlasting  peace — an  infinite  and  per- 
fect peace — must  be  the  work  of  Him  who  is  Him- 
self all  this.  "Now  the  works  of  the  Spirit 
are  love,  joy,  peace." 

(3)  But  the  cultivation  of  it  is  placed  by  God's 
grace  in  our  hands.  Christ  may  have  died  for 
us;  the  Spirit  may  have  applied  that  death  sav- 
ingly to  us;  and  yet  we  may  still  hold  back  from 
the  full  consciousness  of  our  safety;  wrong 
thoughts  and  feelings  may  stand  in  our  way.  We 
are  at  peace  with  God;  our  conscience  knows  it. 
But  we  may  so  seldom  look  to  Him  who  is  our 
Peace,  and  so  much  to  ourselves,  that  we  fail  to  take 
the  true  comfort  and  joy  of  our  changed  position. 

Hence  a  good  old  writer  (William  Bridge) 
draws  two  useful  distinctions:  a  distinction  be- 
tween Fundamental  Peace  and  Additional  Peace; 
a  distinction  between  Dormant  Peace  and  Awak- 


338  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ened  Peace, — peace  in  the  seed  and  peace  in  the 
flower.  Fundamental  Peace,  he  tells  us,  is  that 
peace  which  naturally  and  necessarily  arises  from 
our  justification;  those  who  are  justified  by  faith 
have  peace  with  God.  We  cannot  cultivate 
this,  we  have  it;  it  cannot  be  less  true  or  be  made 
more  true.  But  it  is  objective.  There  is,  then, 
the  subjective  peace,  founded  on  this:  the  addi- 
tional peace  that  arises  from  the  sense  of  our  jus- 
fication.  This  we  may  neglect  to  cultivate;  it 
may  be  lost  for  a  time.  As  the  thief  breaking  in 
at  night  can  steal  the  accumulated  income 
hoarded  in  the  safe,  but  cannot  steal  the  capital 
invested  in  the  land ;  so  the  great  thief  of  the  uni- 
verse, Satan,  may  take  away  our  additional  peace 
but  never  the  fundamental.  So  we  may  also 
speak  of  Dormant  peace — a  peace  we  have  ever 
in  heart  but  do  not  realize  always ;  and  Awakened 
peace,  which  manifests  itself  to  the  soul. 

On  the  one  hand,  the  wicked  man  may  give  him- 
self great  comfort  till  the  day  of  death  comes,  but 
when  trouble  breaks  forth  upon  him,  he  is  at 
length  awake.  The  sin  and  guilt  were  in  his  heart 
always;  they  lay  sleeping  there,  but  now  they  are 
awakened.     So  the  German  poet  sings: 

The  heart  hath  chambers  twain. 

Which  inhabit 
Sweet  joy  and  bitter  pain : 
Oh  joy,  take  thou  good  heed! 

Tread  softly, 
Lest  pain  should  wake  indeed! 


PEACE  WITH  GOD  339 

Just  so,  on  the  other  hand,  men  may  have  a 
great  reservoir  of  true  peace  within  them,  and 
yet  have  never  drawn  on  it  for  the  supply  of  their 
needs.  After  a  while  the  need  arises  that  breaks 
the  retaining  wall  and  the  whole  soul  is  flooded 
with  peace.  This  is  peace  indeed!  O,  that  we 
may  have  this  peace!  Not  merely  Fundamental 
peace — though  that  is  the  main  thing — but  Addi- 
tional peace;  not  merely  Dormant  peace,  but 
Awakened  peace — the  sense  of  being  at  peace 
with  God. 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT 

Col.  1:12: — "Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father  who  made  us  meet 
to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  Ught." 

Our  passage  is  one  of  those  fervent  descrip- 
tions of  the  blessed  state  of  the  saved  soul  in 
which  the  writings  of  Paul  abound.  It  occurs  in 
the  midst  of  the  prayer  which  he  says  he  has  been 
offering  for  the  Colossians  ever  since  their  con- 
version. The  Colossians  were  not  brought  to 
Christ  by  his  own  preaching,  but  by  that  of  his 
faithful  minister  in  the  Gospel,  Epaphras.  And 
when  Epaphras  brought  him  the  good  news  of  the 
turnmg  of  the  many  at  Colossse  from  darkness  to 
light,  the  heart  of  the  Apostle  overflowed  with 
thanksgiving.  From  that  day,  he  says,  he  has 
been  continually  thanking  God  for  the  Colossian 
Christians,  and  mingling  with  his  thanks  earnest 
petitions  for  their  Christian  walk. 

The  gist  of  his  petition  is  that  they — so  lately 
brought  to  Christ  and  so  surrounded  by  danger — 
should  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  God's  will 
in  all  wisdom  and  spiritual  understanding,  so  that 
they  might  walk  worthily  of  the  Lord  unto  all 
pleasing.     Two  points  are  to  be  noted  here. 

The  thing  which  Paul  desires  for  the  Colossian 
converts  is  that  they  may,  in  their  walk  and  con- 
versation,  be  well  pleasing  to   Christ.     This  is 

340 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT  341 

expressed  by  means  of  a  term  of  rather  startling 
strength;  a  term  which  in  its  classical  usage  bore 
an  implication  of  cringing  subjection  to  the  whims 
of  another  and  was  applied  to  the  sycophant  and 
the  flatterer.  Of  course,  the  nobler  association 
with  Christ  voids  it  of  its  unworthy  suggestions, 
but  there  is  left  on  the  mind  a  strong  impression 
of  the  fullness  of  the  devotion  which  the  Apostle 
would  fain  see  in  the  lives  of  Christians  to 
their  Lord.  External  service — eye  service — is  not 
enough ;  our  thoughts  must  run  ahead  of  the  com- 
mand and  all  our  lives  be  suffused  with  this  prin- 
ciple— that  we  may  be  well  pleasing  to  Christ. 
This  is  what  the  Apostle  asks  in  behalf  of  the  Co- 
lossian  converts. 

The  second  thing  to  be  noted  is  that  Paul  ex- 
pected this  perfection  of  service  to  be  mediated 
by  perfection  of  knowledge.  What  he  directly 
asks  for  is  that  these  converts  may  be  filled  with 
the  knowledge  of  God's  will  in  all  wisdom  and 
spiritual  understanding — and  the  word  used  here 
for  "knowledge"  is  the  term  for  precise,  full,  ac- 
curate, profound  knowledge.  He  prays  directly 
that  they  may  have  the  knowledge — in  order  that 
they  may  walk  worthily  of  their  Lord  unto  all 
kinds  of  pleasing.  Obviously  it  seemed  to  the 
Apostle  that  the  pathway  to  a  right  life  lay  through 
a  right  knowledge.  It  was  only  as  they  knew  the 
will  of  God  that  they  could  hope  to  please  Christ 
in  action.     Knowledge  comes  thus  before  life  and 


342  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

is  the  constructive  force  of  life.  Thus  the  Apostle 
teaches  us  the  supreme  value  of  a  right  and  pro- 
found and  exact  knowledge  of  Divine  things. 
Not  as  if  knowledge  were  the  end — life,  undoubt- 
edly, is  the  end  at  which  the  saving  processes  are 
directed;  but  because  the  sole  lever  to  raise  the 
life  to  its  proper  height  is  just  right  knowledge. 
It  is  life — the  right  life — that  the  Apostle  is  pray- 
ing for  in  behalf  of  the  Colossians:  but  he  repre- 
sents knowledge — right  knowledge — as  possessing 
the  necessity  of  means  to  that  life. 

The  nature  of  this  right  life  is  perhaps  suflS- 
ciently  outlined  in  the  single  phrase  in  which  Paul 
gives  expression  to  his  longing.  He  says  that  he  is 
asking  that  the  Colossians  may  walk  worthily  of 
the  Lord  in  every  kind  of  pleasing.  It  is  a  Christ- 
pleasing  life  that  he  wishes  for  them.  But  it  is 
not  the  Apostle's  way  to  content  himself  with 
broad  phrases.  And  he  proceeds  at  once  to  sug- 
gest more  fully  what  kind  of  a  life  he  conceives  a 
Christ-pleasing  life  to  be.  There  are  three  char- 
acteristics which  he  throws  into  emphasis.  It 
must  be  a  fruitful  life.  It  must  be  a  stable  life. 
It  must  be  a  thankful  life.  Here  is  the  way  he 
develops  its  idea.  That  ye  may  walk  worthily 
of  the  Lord  unto  every  kind  of  pleasing,  he  says — 
(1)  by  bearing  fruit  and  yielding  increase  in  every 
good  work,  through  the  knowledge  of  God;  (2) 
by  being  strengthened  in  every  sort  of  strength 
according  to  the  might  of  His  glory,  unto  all  obe- 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT  343 

dience  and  long-suffering;  (3)  by  joyfully  giving 
thanks  to  the  Father,  who  has  qualified  us  for  our 
share  in  the  lot  of  the  saints  in  the  light.  Abound- 
ing fruitfulness  in  good  works;  strong  patience 
in  the  trials  of  Hfe;  joyful  thankfulness  for  the 
blessings  of  salvation;  these  are  the  traits  of  the 
Christian  walk  which  shall  be  worthy  of  the  Lord 
unto  all  pleasing;  these  are  the  marks  of  that  life 
on  which  our  Saviour  will  smile. 

Now  it  is  particularly  to  the  third  of  these  traits 
of  a  Christ-pleasing  life  that  our  text  draws  our 
attention  to-day.  It  is  one  of  the  marks  of  right 
Christian  living  when  we  are  joyfully  thankful  to 
the  Father  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ 
for  our  introduction  into  the  blessings  of  the 
Christian  life.  For,  more  accurately  speaking, 
that  is  the  substance  of  the  thanksgiving  which 
the  Apostle  desires  to  see  illustrated  in  the  Colos- 
sian  Christians.  The  terms  in  which  he  ex- 
presses it  are  worth  our  careful  consideration. 
"With  joy,  giving  thanks  to  the  Father,"  he 
phrases  it,  "who  made  us  sufficient  for  a  share 
of  the  lot  of  the  saints  in  light."  The  ground  of 
the  thankfulness  which  he  would  fain  find  in  them 
is  that  supernal  act  of  the  Father  of  our  Saviour 
by  which  he  has  introduced  us  into  the  company 
and  endowed  us  with  the  heritage  of  the  saints. 
Of  course,  the  reminiscence  of  our  primal  estate  as 
aliens  from  the  household  of  God  underlies  the 
thought;  but  it  is  not  explicitly  adverted  to  until 


344  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  next  verse.  What  is  emphasized  here  is  the 
wonder  of  the  act  by  which  we  were  transformed 
into  fellow-citizens  of  the  saints,  and  fellow-heirs 
with  them  of  God.  That,  says  the  Apostle,  is 
the  ground  of  a  thanksgiving  on  our  part  which 
should  transfuse  our  whole  life  and  by  which  our 
life  will  be  characterized  as  a  Christian  one. 

For  the  development  of  the  thought,  let  us  em- 
phasize in  turn  the  four  chief  elements  which 
seem  to  enter  most  prominently  into  it.  These 
words  of  the  Apostle  would  seem  to  advise  us, 
then,  of  at  least  these  important  facts : 

1.  That  the  saints  have  a  heritage. 

2.  That  the  heritage  of  the  saints  is  "in  the 
light." 

3.  That  it  is  God  and  God  alone  who  has  the 
power  to  introduce  men  into  this  heritage. 

4.  That  it  is  a  matter  of  profound  thanksgiving 
to  men,  therefore,  when  they  find  themselves  in- 
vested with  this  heritage — a  thanksgiving  which 
should  transform  their  whole  lives  and  make  them 
conscious  debtors  to  God  to  such  an  extent  that 
henceforth  they  should  live  to  Him  and  His  glory 
should  be  their  one  pursuit — in  a  word,  that 
they  should  walk  worthily  of  the  Lord  unto  all 
pleasing. 

That  the  saints  have  a  heritage  is  obviously  the 
central  implication  of  the  passage.  What  Paul 
wishes  his  readers  to  be  thankful  for  is  their 
capacitating  by  the  Father  for  their  share  "in  the 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT  345 

inheritance  of  the  saints."  Our  term  "heritage" 
may  indeed  be  misleading  in  this  connection.  The 
Greek  term  may  not  naturally  emphasize  the  same 
connotations,  possibly  may  not  contain  all  that 
we  are^accustomed  to  think  of  in  connection  with 
it.  It  may  be  better  to  use  the  word  "lot,"  for 
example,  and  speak  of  "the  lot"  of  the  saints. 
The  main  implication  is  that  of  a  possession  which 
becomes  ours,  not  by  our  earning  it  but  by  gift 
from  another.  What  the  saints  obtain  is  not 
merited  by  them,  is  not  theirs  by  right  and  their 
own  desert;  it  is  allotted  to  them.  The  language 
is  founded  on  and  is  reminiscent  of  the  allot- 
ment of  Canaan  to  the  Tribes  which  composed  the 
ancient  people  of  Jacob.  As  in  that  typical 
transaction  the  whole  land  was  the  gift  of  God  to 
the  people  and  was  allotted  to  the  several  tribes 
and  families,  each  having  his  own  portion,  so,  in 
the  antitype,  the  saints  are  conceived  as  having 
in  possession  their  allotted  heritage,  in  which 
each  has  his  specific  portion  which  is  to  be  his  in- 
disputably and  his  forever.  As  under  the  Old 
Testament,  so  imder  the  New,  there  remains  a 
land,  a  country,  an  abiding  home,  for  the  people 
of  God,  into  which  abode  the  true  Joshua  leads 
them  to  their  rest.  And  this,  I  say,  is  the  fun- 
damental implication  of  the  passage. 

The  designation  of  this  country  of  the  saints  as 
"in  the  light"  follows  a  symbolism  which  per- 
vades the  whole  Bible,  and  the  grandeur  of  which 


346  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

is,  perhaps,  liable  to  be  missed  by  us  through  our 
very  wontedness  to  it.  Throughout  the  Scrip- 
tures "light"  is  used  as  the  designation  of  all  that 
is  of  consummate  and  unapproachable  perfection, 
whether  in  the  physical,  intellectual,  moral  or 
spiritual  spheres.  In  contrast  with  the  darkness 
of  sorrow  and  peril  we  have  the  light  of  joy  and 
safety;  in  contrast  with  the  darkness  of  death  we 
have  the  light  of  life;  in  contrast  with  the  dark- 
ness of  error  we  have  the  light  of  truth;  in  con- 
trast with  the  darkness  of  sin  we  have  the  light  of 
holiness;  in  contrast  with  the  darkness  of  de- 
struction we  have  the  light  of  salvation.  Physi- 
cally, intellectually,  ethically,  spiritually,  sav- 
ingly, "light"  is  all  that  is  pure  and  true,  bright 
and  holy  and  blissful.  And  light  is  the  heritage 
of  the  saints.  It  is  the  sphere  in  which  God  lives, 
for  we  are  to  walk  in  the  light  as  He  is  "in  the 
light."  It  is  the  glorious  city  built  foresquare  of 
luminous  stones,  in  which  the  saints  have  their 
real  citizenship  and  the  "light"  of  which  is  God 
Himself.  God  Himself  is  "light"  and  we,  as  His 
children,  are  the  "children  of  light."  In  Him  is 
no  darkness  at  all,  or  as  the  strongly  emphatic 
language  of  John  seems  to  say,  "Darkness  is  not 
in  Him;  no  not  in  any  way" — not  in  the  way  of 
physical  infirmity,  of  intellectual  error,  of  moral 
fault,  of  spiritual  stain,  or  of  sullied  blessedness. 
In  Him  and  in  Him  only,  who  dwelleth  in  light  inac- 
cessible, is  there  no  darkness, — no,  not  in  any  way. 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT  347 

Meanwhile  we  fairly  wallow  in  darkness.  But 
for  the  saints  there  is  a  heritage  "in  the  light" 
that  streams  out  from  the  Throne  of  God,  that 
light  which  is  the  source  and  condition  of  all  life, 
and  health,  and  strength,  and  all  knowledge  and 
righteousness,  hohness  and  bliss.  There  lapped 
in  the  actinic  rays  of  the  "light  of  life,"  dwell  the 
saints.  There  each  has  his  appointed  portion, 
his  home.  There  each  obtains  his  own  higher 
qualities  of  knowledge,  righteousness,  holiness  and 
bliss;  and  becoming  thus  luminiferous  is  made 
himself  a  "light  bearer"  in  the  world.  All  this 
and  more  is  meant  by  the  Apostle  when  he  tells 
us  of  the  "heritage  of  the  saints  in  light." 

Now  he  tells  us  further  that  it  is  God  and  God 
alone  who  can  introduce  men  into  this  glorious 
region  of  "the  light."  It  is  God  who  is  light  and 
all  the  light  that  is  in  the  world  streams  from  Him. 
We,  on  our  part,  are  under  the  dominion  of  "dark- 
ness," and  darkness  has  filled  our  hearts.  How 
can  we  be  rescued  from  the  rule  of  darkness  and 
translated  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  God's 
love?  Obviously  it  is  only  by  an  act  of  God,  the 
Light,  Himself  shining  into  our  darkened  heart. 
And  so  the  Apostle  tells  us,  declaring  that  it  is 
God  who  has  made  us  meet  for  a  share  in  the  heri- 
tage of  the  saints.  Our  English  word  "meet" 
probably  only  brokenly  represents  the  Greek 
word  which  he  employs.  In  the  Greek  word  the 
idea   of   sufficiency,   adequacy,   ability,   is   more 


348  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

prominent  than  that  of  worthiness,  suitability. 
The  notion  conveyed  is,  perhaps,  not  so  much  that 
God  has  made  us  fit,  worthy,  to  be  in  the  King- 
dom of  Hght — though  that  in  any  event  is  in- 
cluded, and  as  to  the  thing  itself  is  not  inharmoni- 
ous with  the  Apostle's  main  intention;  but  that 
He  has  made  us  able  to  enter  into  this  state.  Im- 
mersed in  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  or  worse  than 
that,  with  the  kingdom  of  darkness  within  our- 
selves, we  were  incapable  of  entering  the  kingdom 
of  light.  We  needed  to  be  made  "suflScient," 
"competent,"  "adequate,"  "capable,"  to  be 
"qualified,"  "capacitated"  for  entering  into  our 
portion  in  the  allotment  of  the  saints.  There  was 
no  power  in  us  for  entering  these  light-sown  re- 
gions; our  natural  home  was  elsewhere.  Only 
by  a  creative  act  of  God  were  we  able  to  enter 
upon  their  sacred  precincts. 

You  see  the  idea  is  not  that  we  had  the  power  to 
enter  but  not  the  fitness  to  abide  there;  it  is 
that  we  had  no  power  to  enter — the  light  striking 
us  in  the  face  drove  us  away  because  we  were  of 
the  darkness  and  incapable  of  the  light.  It  was 
God  and  God  alone  who  made  us  able  to  receive 
a  portion  in  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light; 
He  alone  who  delivered  us  from  the  authority  (we 
were  under  its  authority)  of  darkness  and  trans- 
lated us  into  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  His  love. 
And  we  will  utterly  fail  to  catch  Paul's  real  mean- 
ing unless  we  feel  profoundly  how  entirely  he  as- 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  THE  SAINTS  IN  LIGHT  349 

cribes  the  totality  of  the  transaction  by  which  we 
are  vested  with  a  heritage  among  the  saints  "in 
the  light"  to  God  and  to  God  alone.  It  is  to  God 
and  not  to  ourselves — not  to  our  fellow-men,  nor 
yet  to  angels, — to  God  and  to  God  alone,  that  we 
owe  it  that  our  part  is  with  the  saints  in  the  light. 
It  is  He  that  has  qualified,  capacitated,  compe- 
tentized,  suflScientized  us,  for  our  part  in  the  lot  of 
the  saints. 

And  it  is  just  on  this  basis  that  He  calls  on  us 
to  spend  our  lives  in  one  long  thanksgiving  to 
God,  as  the  one  who  has  enabled  us  for  our  share  < 
in  the  heritage  of  the  saints  in  the  light.  Thanks- 
giving presupposes  indebtedness.  The  nature  of 
the  indebtedness  is  already  enshrined  in  the  one 
word  "who  made  us  competent,"  but  it  is  richly 
developed  in  the  subsequent  verses.  We  were 
held  under  the  power  of  darkness;  we  have  been 
delivered  from  it  and  translated  into  the  Kingdom 
of  the  Son  of  God's  love.  We  were  under  the 
curse  of  sin;  we  have  received  in  Him  redemp- 
tion, even  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  In  this  great 
rescue  we  have  been  made  suflScient  for  both 
things.  There  is  obviously  an  objective  and  a 
subjective  side  to  it;  an  ideal  and  an  actual  pos- 
session involved.  But  the  upshot  of  it  all  is — 
that  God  has  taken  us  out  of  darkness  with  all 
that  that  involves  and  placed  us  in  the  light,  with 
all  that  that  involves.  And  as  children  of  the  light 
we  must  rejoice  in  the  light — which  light  God  is. 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE 

Col.  3:1-4,  especially  3: — "Your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

We  cannot  hope  to  empty  so  great  a  text  as  this 
into  our  minds  and  hearts  in  the  course  of  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour's  study  of  it.  It  is  a  great  fountain 
filled  with  refreshment.  But  we  may  like  to  sip 
a  little  of  its  strengthening  waters.  To  do  so,  let 
us  in  a  very  simple  way  just  glance  at  its  contents. 

And  first  we  observe  that  the  text  assumes  a 
fact.  Its  opening  words,  "If  then  ye  were  raised 
together  with  Christ"  posit  a  fact  beneath  all 
that  it  has  further  to  say.  And  the  resurrection 
here  adverted  to  implies  a  previous  death;  and 
looking  back  to  the  preceding  chapter,  we  find  it 
also  mentioned.  Here,  then,  are  the  two  wings 
of  the  fact  assumed:  "If  ye  died  with  Christ  from 
the  rudiments  of  the  world";  "If  then  ye  were 
raised  together  with  Christ."  At  the  bottom  of 
all,  then,  lies  this  great  fact,  the  fundamental  fact 
of  the  Christian  religion:  that  Christ  died  and 
rose  again.  On  this  great  fundamental  fact 
everything  in  our  present  passage  is  based.  But 
not  upon  it  as  a  bare  fact,  without  further  sig- 
nificance than  that  it  happened.  For  it  is  no 
more  a  fact  that  Christ  died  than  that  He  died 
for  our  sins;  and  no  more  a  fact  that  He  rose 
again  than  that  He  rose  again  for  our  justification. 

350 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE  351 

This  then  is  the  fact  assumed  in  our  text,  that 
Christ  died  for  our  trespasses  and  was  raised  again 
for  our  justification.  But  if  He  died  for  our  sins, 
He  died  to  take  them  away,  and  His  death  did  take 
them  away.  All  those  for  whose  sins  Christ  died, 
died  then  with  Him  in  the  death  which  He  ac- 
complished on  the  cross;  died  with  Him  to  sin, 
that  they  might  no  longer  be  sinners.  And  if  He 
was  raised  again  for  our  justification.  He  rose 
again  to  usher  us  into  acceptance  with  God  and 
into  all  that  is  involved  in  that  great  word,  life, 
and  His  resurrection  has  brought  us  into  God's 
favour  and  into  life  indeed.  All  those  for  whom 
He  rose  again,  rose  again  with  Him,  therefore; 
rose  again  with  Him  to  life  that  they  might  live 
again  to  God.  And  here  now  is  the  great  fact  in 
its  fullness  which  Paul  assumes  and  lays  at  the 
base  of  our  present  passage:  the  great  fact  of  the 
participation  of  Christians  in  Christ's  death  and 
rising  again. 

If  we  be  Christians  at  all,  we  are  such  only  in 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  when  He  died.  He  died  for 
us,  and  we,  therefore,  died  as  sinners  with  His 
death ;  and  that  when  He  rose  again  for  our  just- 
ification, we  rose  again  into  newness  of  life  with 
Him, — the  life  that  we  now  live  is  a  new  life,  from 
a  new  spring,  even  the  Spirit  of  Christ  which  He 
as  the  risen  Lord  has  sent  down  to  us.  This  is  the 
great  fact  of  participation  in  the  saving  work  of 
Christ,  with  all  that  it  involves.     And  what  we 


352  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

have  here  is  an  assertion  that  such  a  participation 
involves  seizing  of  us  bodily  and  lifting  us  to 
another  and  higher  plane.  We  were  sinners,  and 
lived  as  sinners;  we  lived  an  earthly  life,  in  the 
lowest  sense  of  that  word.  But  now  we  have  died 
with  Christ  as  sinners  and  can  live  no  more  as 
sinners;  we  have  been  raised  together  with  Him 
and  can  live  only  on  the  plane  of  this  new  life, 
which  is  not  in  sin,  not  "in  the  earth,"  but  in 
heaven.  In  a  high  and  true  sense,  because  we 
have  died  to  sin  and  been  raised  to  holiness,  we 
have  already  passed  out  of  earth  to  heaven. 
Heaven  is  already  the  sphere  of  our  life;  our 
"citizenship  is  in  heaven" — we  are  citizens  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  have  the  life  appropriate 
thereto  to  live. 

And  now  we  observe,  secondly,  that  on  this 
fact  the  Apostle  founds  an  exhortation.  "If 
then  ye  were  raised  together  with  Christ,  seek 
the  things  that  are  above."  The  exhortation  is 
simply  to  an  actual  life  consonant  with  our  change 
of  state.  If  we  have  participated  in  Christ's 
death  for  sin  and  rising  again  for  justification; 
so  that  with  Him  we  died  to  sin  and  rose  again 
unto  holiness;  live  accordingly.  If  we  have  thus 
died  as  sinners,  as  earth  born,  and  earth  confined 
crawlers  on  this  low  plane,  and  been  raised  to  this 
higher  plane,  even  a  heavenly  one,  of  living — 
show  in  walk  and  conversation  that  the  change 
has  been  a  real  one.     It  is  an  exhortation  to  us  to 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE  353 

be  in  life  real  citizens  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  to 
which  we  have  been  transferred ;  to  do  the  duties 
and  enter  into  the  responsibilities  of  our  new  cit- 
izenship. It  is  just  as  we  might  say  to  some 
newly  enfranchised  immigrant:  You  have  left 
that  country  of  darkness  in  which  you  were  bred, 
where  no  liberty  of  action  or  of  worship  existed; 
you  have  been  received  into  our  free  America,  and 
have  been  clothed  with  the  rights  and  duties  of 
citizenship  in  this  great  Republic;  now  live  worth- 
ily of  your  new  citizenship;  be  now  in  life  and 
thought  no  longer  a  serf  but  a  freeman.  So,  Paul 
says  in  effect,  you  have  passed  out  of  the  realm  of 
sin  and  death,  out  of  the  merely  earthly  sphere; 
you  have  been  made  a  citizen  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom;  do  the  deeds  and  live  the  life  conform- 
able to  your  great  change. 

And  we  observe,  again,  that  the  Apostle  de- 
scribes to  us  the  nature  of  this  heavenly  life  to 
which  we  are  committed,  by  passing  out  of  the 
earthly  into  the  heavenly  sphere  through  partici- 
pation in  the  death  and  rising  again  of  Christ. 
" Seek  the  things  that  are  above."  "  Set  your  mind 
on  the  things  that  are  above,  not  on  the  things 
that  are  upon  the  earth."  What  is  meant  by 
seeking  the  heavenly  things  rather  than  the 
earthly?  We  may,  at  least,  say  that  the  following 
is  meant. 

To  seek  the  things  that  are  above,  in  distinc- 
tion from  those  that  are  upon  the  earth,  means 


354  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

primarily  to  seek  what  is  good  and  refuse  what  is 
evil.  It  is  an  exhortation  to  a  moral  life  as  op- 
posed to  an  immoral  one.  It  is  an  exhortation  to 
a  life  of  purity  and  holiness  as  opposed  to  a  life  of 
sin.  This  at  least  is  made  evident  to  us  by  the 
immediately  succeeding  context.  For  just  after 
giving  the  exhortation  to  seek  the  "things  that 
are  above  and  not  the  things  that  are  upon  the 
earth,"  the  Apostle  explains  what  the  things  that 
are  upon  the  earth  are  which  we  are  to  refuse. 
"Mortify,  therefore,"  he  adds,  at  once,  "your 
members  that  are  upon  the  earth;  fornication, 
uncleanness,  passion,  evil  desire  and  covetous- 
ness."  And  he  proceeds  also  to  explain  what  the 
heavenly  things  are  which  we  are  to  seek:  "Put 
on,  therefore,  as  God's  elect,  holy  and  beloved,  a 
heart  of  compassion,  kindness,  humility,  meekness, 
long-suffering"  and  the  like.  These,  then,  are 
"the  things  that  are  above"  which  we  are  to  seek: 
and  those  "the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth" 
that  we  are  to  keep  ourselves  free  from,  and,  when 
they  are  already  in  us  as  members,  which  we  are 
"to  mortify,"  to  "slay."  But  this  is  as  much  as 
to  say  that  the  heavenly  life  which,  as  those  who 
have  shared  in  Christ's  death  and  resurrection,  we 
are  to  live,  is,  first  of  all,  a  moral  life,  or  better, 
a  holy  life,  a  life  of  purity  and  virtue,  as  distin- 
guished from  a  life  of  sin.  And  this,  indeed,  fol- 
lows from  its  very  conception,  for  our  death  with 
Christ  was  a  death  to  sin  and  our  rising  with  Him 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE  355 

was  a  rising  out  of  sin, — which  is  the  death  of  the 
soul, — to  a  new  life,  spiritual  life,  which  in  its 
very  idea  is  holiness.  Before  all  else,  this,  then, 
is  to  seek  the  things  that  are  above:  to  put  aside 
the  sin  that  so  easily  besets  us  and  to  live  holily 
as  becomes  saints. 

But  this  fundamental  conception — and  all  in- 
clusive conception,  too,  when  rightly  under- 
stood— hardly  exhausts,  when  only  thus  broadly 
stated,  the  matter  as  it  lies  in  the  Apostle's  mind 
here.  On  closer  observation  we  see  that  the  Apos- 
tle has  also  a  special  application  of  it  in  mind, 
and  we  need  to  note  it.  Let  us  say,  then,  that  the 
seeking  of  the  things  that  are  above,  means  here 
also  this :  the  seeking  of  the  things  that  are  really 
good  in  contradistinction  to  those  that  are  ap- 
parently good.  For  if  the  subsequent  context  is 
the  professed  explanation  of  the  fundamental 
meaning  of  the  exhortation,  the  preceding  con- 
text, furnishing  the  occasion  of  the  special  form 
which  the  exhortation  takes,  is  the  explanation  of 
this.  "If,  therefore,  ye  were  raised  together  with 
Christ."  Now,  in  this  preceding  context,  the 
Apostle  was  attemptuig  to  save  his  readers  from  a 
grave  heresy  which  had  shown  itself  in  their  region. 
The  characteristic  of  this  heresy  was  that,  along 
with  certain  speculative  errors,  a  specific  moral 
teaching  was  offered:  a  moral  teaching  of  ap- 
parently high  and  lofty  nature.  The  Apostle  does 
not  deny  that  the  principles  thus  pressed  upon  his 


356  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

converts  as  a  rule  of  life  had  the  appearance  of 
goodness,  and  of  wisdom:  "which  things  have  a 
show  of  wisdom  in  severity  to  the  body."  He 
does  not  deny  that  there  were  real  evils  to  be  met. 
There  were  gross  indulgences  of  the  flesh  to  which 
men  were  prone:  intemperance,  impurity  and  all 
the  catalogue  of  such  evils.  How  apparently 
wise  and  right  to  preach:  Handle  not,  nor  taste, 
nor  touch!  Should  Christian  men  fail  to  join  in 
this  great  cyclone  of  moral  reform?  If  they  did, 
were  they  not  open  to  the  charge  of  indifference  to 
morality  itself — the  very  mark  and  sign  of  their 
profession  of  having  died  to  sin  and  been  raised 
again  to  righteousness  .^^ 

Paul's  deliberate  judgment  is  that  all  such  pre- 
cepts are  precepts  of  men;  that  their  tendency  is 
to  enslave  men  again  under  the  yoke  of  legalism — 
men  who  had  become  free  in  Christ.  And  his 
deliberate  exhortation  is,  to  keep  to  the  path  of 
seeking  the  really  good  instead  of  these  apparent 
goods.  His  exhortation  becomes  thus  an  exhor- 
tation to  seek  what  we  call  the  religious,  rather 
than  the  moral  way  to  reform  man  and  the  world. 
When  men  come  saying.  Touch  not,  taste  not, 
handle  not,  Paul  says  they  are  offering  you  an 
inoperative  mode  of  saving  the  world  from  sin; 
they  are  offering  you  law  which  only  condemns, 
not  grace  in  which  alone  is  saving  power.  He 
says,  reject  such  human  commandments,  and  be 
content  to  hold  fast  to  the  Head — that  Christ  who 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE  357 

has  created  all  these  things,  whose  they  are,  and 
who  has  given  them  to  you  for  use,  though,  of 
course,  not  for  abuse.  He  says,  you  are  living 
on  a  higher  plane  than  this  earthly  one  of  pre- 
cepts and  prohibitions;  see  that  you  live  on  this 
higher  plane;  seek  the  real  good  even  if  you  are 
evil-spoken  of,  because  you  refuse  a  path  of  ap- 
parent good,  one  which  has  a  show  of  wisdom, 
indeed,  but  is  no  real  "specific"  against  the  evils 
of  the  flesh. 

But  there  is  yet  another  special  aspect  of  the 
exhortation,  growing  immediately  out  of  these 
facts,  which  we  must  notice.  Just  because  the 
seeking  of  the  really  good  as  over  against  the  ap- 
parent good  will  necessarily  bring  misunder- 
standing, and  even  misrepresentation  (for  they 
that  called  the  Master  Beelzebub  are  not  likely  to 
mince  matters  in  speaking  of  his  followers),  Paul 
represents  the  seeking  of  the  thmgs  above,  as  a 
seeking  of  the  hidden  good,  as  distinguished  from 
the  open,  publicly  recognized  good.  This  life  of 
ours  is  a  hidden  life;  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  God, 
not  the  world,  is  the  sphere  in  which  it  is  passed. 
Christ  is  it  itself.  And  Christ  is  now  with  God. 
The  Christian  in  seeking  heavenly  things  must 
not  seek  to  be  known  of  the  world  to  be  good,  but 
only  to  be  seen  of  God.  It  belongs  to  the  Phar- 
isee, not  to  the  Christian,  to  do  good  to  be  seen 
of  men.  It  is  a  hidden  life  he  leads ;  and  he  must 
be  content  to  be  misunderstood  and  misrepre- 


358  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

sented,  even  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake; 
for  him  it  is  not  appearances,  or  even  appearance 
that  he  seeks;  it  is  only  the  good.  Not  that  his 
good  shall  always  be  unrecognized.  There  comes 
a  day  of  manifestation;  "When  Christ  is  mani- 
fested, then  shall  ye  be  manifested  with  him,  in 
glory."  For  that  day  of  the  revelation  of  all,  he 
can  afford  to  and  he  must  wait. 

But  there  is  more  in  this  hidden  life  than  this. 
Here  is  an  intimation  of  the  quiet  of  the  Christian 
life;  here  is  also  an  intimation  of  its  perfection. 
It  is  better  than  men  know  or  even  dream.  The 
Christian  is  to  refuse  men's  commands  of  "Touch 
not,  taste  not,  handle  not,"  not  because  he  is  in- 
different to  morality,  but  because  he  has  a  better 
morality  and  a  better  way.  He  is  not  to  fall  be- 
hind human  morality;  he  is  to  transcend  it.  He 
seeks  not  law  but  grace;  he  seeks  not  to  make  the 
outside  of  the  platter  clean — how  diligently  men 
are  willing  to  work  at  that! — but  to  make  the 
heart  clean.  His  remedy  for  the  world's  ills,  as 
for  his  own,  is — a  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  He 
points  to  Christ  who  can  make  pure  the  heart, 
from  which  are  the  issues  of  life,  and,  in  His  name 
and  as  His  servant,  he  refuses  all  the  outward  in- 
operative nostrums  which  are  offered  as  specifics 
for  the  deep  disease  of  humanity;  because  they 
have  no  help  or  profit  in  them.  He  refuses  the 
bad  medicine  only  in  favour  of  the  good. 

And  now  let  us  pass  on  to  observe  that  the 


THE  HIDDEN  LIFE  359 

Apostle  adduces  motives  for  this  heavenly  walk. 
And  the  motives  he  presents  are  three,  drawn 
from  the  past,  the  present  and  the  future. 

There  is  a  motive  drawn  from  the  past.  "If 
then  ye  were  raised  with  Christ."  The  motive 
presented  is  our  gratitude  to  our  Lord  for  the  great 
work  He  has  done  for  and  in  us.  That  we  have 
been  made  partakers  of  so  great  benefits  is  reason 
enough  for  striving  to  walk  worthily  of  Him. 
This  motive  is  the  same  as,  "The  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  us." 

There  is  a  motive  drawn  from  the  present.  "For 
your  Hfe  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  Notice  here 
that  Christ  is  described  as,  not  the  humiliated 
Christ,  but  the  exalted  Christ— "He  is  seated  on 
the  right  hand  of  God."  The  motive  presented 
is  that  as  we  all  are  one  with  Him,  who  is  exalted 
to  the  right  hand  of  God,  we  are  to  walk  worthily 
of  our  high  dignity.  Noblesse  oblige.  If  we  are 
co-regnant  with  Christ,  how  should  a  king  in  this 
world  walk?  As  grovelling  in  its  dust  and  dirt? 
As  subject  to  man's  petty  precepts?  No!  As 
superior  to  all  the  prescriptions  of  men  and  as 
above  all  the  temptations  to  evil,  because  one  with 
Christ  and  possessing  a  life  hid  with  Him  in 
God. 

There  is  a  motive  drawn  from  the  future. 
"  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  be  manifested, 
then  shall  we  also  with  him  be  manifested  in 
glory."     The  vindication,  even  before  men,  will 


360  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

come.  We  shall  not  always  be  misunderstood; 
we  shall  have  the  reward.  And  what  a  reward! 
Co-manifestation  with  Christ  in  glory!  Do  not 
our    hearts   spring    within    us    with    hope    and 

joy! 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION 

1  Thess.  5:23-24:— "And  the  God  of  peace  himself  sanctify 
you  wholly;  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be  preserved 
entire  without  blame  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Faithful  is  he  that  calleth  you,  who  will  also  do  it." 

There  is  no  feature  of  Christianity  more 
strongly  emphasized  by  those  to  whom  its  estab- 
lishment in  the  world  was  committed,  than  the 
breadth  and  depth  of  its  ethical  demands.  The 
"salvation"  which  was  promised  in  the  "Gospel" 
or  "Glad  Tidings"  which  constituted  its  procla- 
mation, was  just  salvation  from  sin  and  unto  holi- 
ness. In  other  words,  it  was  a  moral  revolution 
of  the  most  thoroughgoing  and  radical  kind. 
"  Sanctification  "  is  the  Biblical  word  for  this  moral 
revolution,  and  in  "  sanctification  "  the  very  es- 
sence of  salvation  is  made  to  consist.  "This  is 
the  will  of  God"  for  you,  says  the  Apostle  to  his 
readers  in  this  very  epistle,  "even  your  sanctifi- 
cation." A  great  part  of  the  epistle  is  given,  ac- 
cordingly, to  commending  the  new  converts  for 
the  progress  they  had  already  made  in  this  sanc- 
tification, and  to  urging  them  onward  in  the  same 
pathway. 

No  moral  attainment  is  too  great  to  be  pressed 
on  them  as  their  duty,  no  moral  duty  is  too  min- 
ute to  be  demanded  of  them  as  essential  to  their 

361 


362  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Christian  walk.  The  standard  the  Apostle  nas 
before  him,  and  consistently  applies  to  his  readers, 
falls  in  nothing  short  of  absolute  perfection,  a  per- 
fection which  embraces  in  its  all-inclusive  sweep 
the  infinitely  httle  and  the  infinitely  great  alike. 
In  the  verses  immediately  preceding  our  text  the 
Apostle  had  been  engaged,  as  is  his  wont  in  all  his 
epistles,  in  enumerating  a  number  of  details  of 
conduct  which  he  wished,  especially,  to  emphasize 
to  his  readers.  They  are  not  chosen  at  hap- 
hazard, but  are  just  the  items  of  conduct  which  the 
particular  readers  with  whom  he  is  at  the  moment 
engaged  required  most  to  have  urged  upon  their 
attention.  But  the  Apostle  would  not  have  his 
readers  suppose  that  their  whole  duty  was  summed 
up  in  the  items  he  enumerates.  As  he  draws  to 
the  close  of  his  exhortations  he  therefore  breaks 
off  in  the  enumeration  and  adjoins  one  great  com- 
prehensive prayer  for  their  entire  perfection: 
"But  may  the  God  of  peace  Himself  sanctify  you 
wholly:  and  may  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body 
be  preserved  perfect  without  failure,  at  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Faithful  is  He  that 
calleth  you  who  also  will  do  it." 

Here  we  have  obviously  a  classical  passage — 
possibly  the  classical  passage — ^for  "entire  sanc- 
tification";  and  it  may  repay  us  in  the  perennial 
interest  which  attends  the  discussion  of  the  theme 
of  "entire  sanctification "  to  look  at  it  somewhat 
closely,  as  such. 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION  363 

First  of  all,  let  us  settle  it  clearly  in  mind  that  it 
is  of  "entire  sanctification "  that  the  passage 
treats.  There  can  certainly  be  no  doubt  of  it,  if 
we  will  only  give  the  language  of  the  passage  a  fair 
hearing.  It  is  so  emphasized,  indeed,  and  with 
such  an  accumulation  of  phraseology  that  it  be- 
comes almost  embarrassing.  The  entirety,  the 
completeness,  the  perfection  of  the  sanctification, 
of  which  it  speaks  is,  in  fact,  the  great  burden  of 
the  passage.  In  contrast  with  the  details  with 
which  the  Apostle  had  just  been  dealing,  and 
which — just  because  they  were  details — could 
touch  the  periphery  only  of  a  perfect  life,  and  that 
only  at  this  or  that  point  of  the  circumference,  he 
here  adverts  to  the  complete  sanctification  that 
not  merely  touches  but  fills  not  the  periphery  only 
but  the  entire  circle  of  the  Christian — nay,  of  the 
human — ^life.  It  is  a  sanctification  that  is  abso- 
lutely complete  and  that  embraces  the  perfection 
of  every  member  of  the  human  constitution,  that 
the  Apostle  here  deals  with. 

Observe  the  emphatic  repetition  of  the  idea  of 
completeness.  May  the  "God  of  Peace" — and 
this  very  designation  of  God,  doubtless,  has  its 
reference  to  the  completeness  of  the  sanctification, 
peace  being  the  opposite  of  all  division,  distrac- 
tion, hesitation  and  dubitation, — may  the  "God 
of  Peace,"  the  Apostle  prays,  "sanctify  you  com- 
pletely"— so  as  that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  want- 
ing nothing  that  enters  into  the  perfection  of  your 


364  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

correspondence  to  the  ends  for  which  you  were 
created.  And  not  content  with  this,  he  adds 
explanatorily,  "And  may  your  spirit  and  your 
soul  and  your  body  be  preserved  entire,  perfect," 
and  not  that  merely,  but  "blamelessly  entire,  per- 
fect"; "blamelessly" — that  is,  in  a  manner  which 
is  incapable  of  being  accused  of  not  coming  up  to 
its  idea. 

Observe  further  the  distribution  of  the  person- 
ality which  is  to  be  perfected  into  its  component 
parts,  of  each  of  which,  in  turn,  perfection  is  de- 
siderated. Not  only  are  we  to  be  sanctified 
wholly,  but  every  part  of  us — our  spirit,  our  soul, 
our  body  itself — ^is  to  be  kept  blamelessly  perfect. 
The  Apostle  is  not  content,  in  other  words,  with 
the  general,  but  descends  into  the  specific  ele- 
ments of  our  being.  And  for  each  of  these  ele- 
ments in  turn  he  seeks  a  "blameless  perfection," 
that  the  sum  of  them  all — the  "we"  at  large — 
may  be,  indeed,  complete  and  entire,  wanting 
nothing. 

Now,  no  doubt,  this  enumeration  of  parts  is  in 
a  sense  rhetorical  and  not  scientific.  The  Apostle 
is  accumulating  terms  to  convey  the  great  idea  of 
completeness  more  pungently  to  us — something 
as  our  Lord  did  when  He  told  us  we  must  love  the 
Lord  our  God  with  all  our  heart  and  soul  and  mind 
and  strength.  But  even  so  he  makes  a  certain 
distinction  between  the  three  elements  he  enu- 
merates, by  the  accumulation  of  which  he  expresses 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION  365 

completeness  most  emphatically.  His  meaning  is 
that  there  is  no  department  of  our  being  into  which 
he  would  not  have  this  perfection  penetrate, 
where  he  would  not  have  it  reign,  and  through 
which  he  would  not  have  it  operate  to  the  per- 
fecting of  the  whole. 

By  this  double  mode  of  accumulation,  we  per- 
ceive, the  Apostle  throws  an  astonishing  em- 
phasis on  the  perfection  which  he  desires  for  his 
readers.  Here  we  may  say  is  "Perfectionism" 
raised  to  its  highest  power,  a  blameless  perfection, 
a  perfection  admitting  of  no  failure  to  attain  its 
end,  in  every  department  of  our  being  alike,  unit- 
ing to  form  a  perfection  of  the  whole,  a  complete 
attainment  of  our  idea  in  the  whole  man.  There 
is  certainly  no  doctrine  of  "entire  sanctification " 
that  has  been  invented  in  these  later  days  which 
can  compare  with  Paul's  doctrine  in  height  or 
depth  or  length  or  breadth.  His  "perfectionism" 
is  assuredly  the  very  apotheosis  of  perfectionism. 
The  perfection  proposed  is  a  real  perfection  (which 
is  not  always  true  of  recent  teachings  on  this  sub- 
ject) and  the  man  who  attains  it  is  a  perfect  man 
— every  part  of  his  being  receiving  its  appropriate 
perfection  (and  this  is  seldom  or  never  true  of 
recent  teachings).  A  perfect  perfection  for  a 
perfect  man — an  entire  sanctification  for  the  en- 
tire man — surely  here  is  a  perfection  worth  long- 
ing for. 

Let  us  observe  next  that  Paul  does  not  speak 


866  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

of  this  perfecting  of  the  entire  man  as  if  it  were  a 
mere  ideal,  unattainable,  and  to  be  looked  up  to 
only  as  the  for  ever  beckoning  standard  hanging 
hopelessly  above  us.  He  treats  it  as  distinctly 
attainable.  He  seriously  prays  God  to  grant  it 
to  his  readers;  and  that  as  the  end  of  his  exhor- 
tation to  them  to  study  moral  perfection  as  the 
aim  of  their  endeavours. 

He  does  not,  indeed,  represent  it  as  attainable 
by  and  through  human  effort  alone,  as  if  man  in 
his  own  strength  could  reach  and  touch  this  his 
true  ultimate  goal  of  endeavour.  Rather  he  em- 
phatically represents  it  as  the  gift  of  God  alone. 
After  exhorting  men  to  their  best  endeavours,  he 
turns  suddenly  from  man  to  God  and  besieges 
Him  with  prayer.  Strive,  he  says,  strive  always, 
do  this  thing  and  do  that — and  so  work  out  this, 
your  ethical  salvation.  ''But  may  God  Himself — 
the  God  of  peace  Himself" — the  stress  is  on  the 
"Himself."  It  is  in  God,  in  God  alone,  the  God 
of  peace  alone,  that  hope  can  be  placed  for  such 
high  attainments. 

But  cannot  hope  be  placed  in  God  for  this  at- 
tainment? The  whole  gist  of  Paul's  prayer — 
nay,  the  whole  drift  of  his  discourse — would  be 
stultified,  were  it  not  so.  Paul's  prayer,  and  the 
way  in  which  he  introduces  his  prayer,  all  com- 
bine to  make  it  certain  that  he  is  not  mocking  us 
here  with  an  illusory  hope  but  is  placing  soberly 
before  us  an  attainable  goal.     This  perfect  per- 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION  367 

fection  is  then,  necessarily,  according  to  Paul, 
attainable  for  man.  God  can  and  will  give  it  to 
His  children. 

Even  more  must  be  said.  Paul  not  only  prays 
seriously  for  it  for  his  readers,  and  this  implies 
that  it  may,  nay,  will  be  given  them;  he  defi- 
nitely promises  it  to  them,  and  bases  this,  his 
definite  promise,  on  no  less  firm  a  foundation  than 
the  faithfulness  of  God.  May  God  sanctify  you 
wholly,  he  says,  and  the  rest  of  it.  But  he  does 
not  stop  there.  He  follows  the  prayer  with  the 
promise:  "Faithful  is  He  that  calleth  you,"  and 
he  adds,  "  who  also  will  do  it."  Thus  Paul  pledges 
the  faithfulness  of  God  to  the  completion  of  his 
readers'  perfection.  And  we  must  not  lose  the 
force  and  pointedness  with  which  he  does  this  by 
failing  to  pay  attention  to  the  sharp,  proverbial 
character  of  this  pledging  clause.  It  has  all  the 
quality  of  a  maxim;  and  the  gist  of  the  maxim 
is  that  God,  this  God  of  whom  Paul  was  praying 
our  perfection,  is  not  a  caller  only,  but  also  a  per- 
former. He  has  called  us  into  the  Christian  life. 
This  Christian  life  into  which  He  has  called  us  is 
in  principle  a  life  of  moral  perfection.  And  this 
God  that  calls  is  not  a  God  that  calls  merely — He 
is  a  God  that  also  accomplishes.  His  very  calling 
of  us  into  this  life  of  new  morality  is  a  pledge,  then, 
that  He  will  perfect  the  good  work  in  us  which  He 
has  begun.  "Faithful  is  He  that  calleth  you: 
who  also  is  one  that  shall  do." 


368  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

The  accomplishment  of  this  our  perfection  then 
does  not  hang  on  our  weak  endeavours.  It  does 
not  hang  even  on  Paul's  strong  prayer.  It  hangs 
only  on  God's  almighty  and  unfailing  faithfulness. 
If  God  is  faithful,  He  who  not  only  calls  but  does — 
then,  we  cannot  fail  of  perfection.  Here  you  see 
is  not  only  perfection  carried  to  its  highest  power, 
but  the  certainty  of  attaining  this  perfection  car- 
ried also  to  its  highest  power.  Not  only  may  a 
Christian  man  be  perfect — absolutely  perfect  in 
all  departments  of  his  being — but  he  certainly  and 
unfailingly  shall  be  perfect.  So  certain  as  it  is 
that  God  has  called  him  "not  for  uncleanness  but 
in  sanctification  "  as  the  very  sphere  in  which  his 
life  as  a  Christian  must  be  passed,  so  certain  is  it 
that  the  God  who  is  not  merely  a  caller  but  a 
doer  will  perfect  him  in  this  sanctification.  Such 
is  the  teaching  of  the  text.  And  assuredly  it  goes 
in  this,  far,  far  beyond  all  modern  teaching  as  to 
entire  sanctification  that  ever  has  been  heard  of 
among  men. 

And  now,  let  us  observe,  thirdly,  the  period  to 
which  the  Apostle  assigns  the  accomplishment  of 
this  great  hope.  It  is  at  once  evident  that  he  is 
not  dealing  with  this  perfection  as  a  thing  already 
in  the  possession  of  his  readers.  It  is  not  a  mat- 
ter of  congratulation  to  them — as  some  Christian 
graces  were,  for  the  presence  of  which  in  their 
hearts  he  thanks  God, — but  a  matter  of  prayer  to 
God  for  them.     It  is  a  thing  not  yet  in  possession 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION  369 

but  in  petition.  It  is  yet  to  come  to  them.  He 
does  not  permit  us  to  suppose,  then,  that  the 
Thessalonians  had  already  attained — or  should 
already  have  attained — it.  He  thanks  God,  in- 
deed, for  their  rescue  from  the  state  in  which  they 
were  by  nature.  He  thanks  God  for  their  great 
attainments  in  Christian  living.  But  he  does  not 
suggest  they  had  already  reached  the  goal.  On 
the  contrary,  a  great  part  of  the  letter  is  taken  up 
with  exhortation  to  Christian  duties  not  yet  over- 
taken, graces  of  Christian  living  still  to  be  culti- 
vated. His  readers  are  treated  distinctly  and 
emphatically  as  viatores,  not  yet  as  comprehen- 
sores.  Not  in  and  of  them,  but  in  and  of  God,  is 
the  perfection  which  he  prays  for.  What  we  see 
is  not  hoped  for,  what  we  pray  for  is  not  already 
attained.  Moreover  the  very  pledge  he  gives  of 
the  attainment  of  this  perfection  bears  in  it  an 
implication  that  it  is  yet  a  matter  of  hope,  not  of 
possession.  He  pledges  the  faithfulness  of  God, 
the  Caller.  Accordingly,  the  perfection  longed 
for  and  promised  is  not  given  in  the  call  itself;  it 
is  not  the  invariable  possession  of  the  Christian 
soul.  He  that  is  called  looks  yet  for  it;  it  is 
sought  still;  and  at  the  hands  of  the  Caller  whose 
faithfulness  assures  the  performance.  The  per- 
formance, therefore,  still  lags. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  Paul,  though  prom- 
ising this  perfection  as  the  certain  heritage  of 
every  Christian  man,  presents  it  as  a  matter  of 


370  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

hope,  not  yet  seen ;  not  as  a  matter  of  experience, 
already  enjoyed.  That  it  belongs  to  us  as  Chris- 
tians we  can  be  assured  only  by  the  faithfulness  of 
God,  the  Performer  as  well  as  the  Caller.  Can  we 
learn  from  Paul  when  we  can  hope  for  it?  As- 
suredly, he  has  not  left  us  in  ignorance  here.  He 
openly  declares,  indeed,  the  term  of  our  imper- 
fection— the  point  of  entrance  into  our  perfection. 
"May  the  God  of  peace,"  he  prays,  "sanctify 
you  wholly  and  may  there  be  preserved  blame- 
lessly perfect  your  spirit  and  soul  and  body,  at  the 
coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. "^^  You  see  it  is 
on  the  second  advent  of  Christ — and  that  is  the 
end  of  the  world,  and  the  judgment  day — that 
the  Apostle  has  his  eyes  set.  There  is  the  point 
of  time  to  which  he  refers  the  completeness  of  our 
perfecting. 

And  if  you  will  stop  and  consider  a  moment,  you 
will  perceive  that  it  must  be  so,  for  the  entire  per- 
fecting, at  least,  of  which  the  Apostle  speaks. 
For  you  will  bear  in  mind  that  the  perfecting  in- 
cludes the  perfecting  of  the  body  also.  It  is  the 
perfecting  of  the  whole  man  that  he  prays  for,  and 
this  expressly  includes  the  body  as  well  as  the  soul 
and  spirit.  Now  the  perfected  body  is  given  to 
man  only  at  the  resurrection,  at  the  last  day,  which 
is  the  day  of  the  second  coming  of  Christ.  Until 
then  the  body  is  mouldering  in  the  grave.  Whether 
spiritual  perfection  may  be  attained  before  then, 
he  does  not  in  this  passage  say.     But  the  analogy 


ENTIRE  SANCTIFICATION  371 

of  the  body  will  apparently  go  so  far  as  this,  at 
all  events — it  raises  a  suspicion  that  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  soul  and  spirit  also  will  be  gradual,  the 
result  of  a  process,  and  will  be  completed  only  in  a 
crisis,  a  cataclysmic  moment,  when  the  Spirit  of 
God  produces  in  them  the  fitness  to  live  with  God. 
This  suspicion  is  entirely  borne  out  by  Paul's 
dealing  with  the  whole  matter  of  sanctification  in 
this  context,  and  in  this  whole  epistle:  as  a  mat- 
ter of  effort,  long-continued  and  strenuous,  build- 
ing up  slowly  the  structure  to  the  end.  There  is 
no  promise  of  its  completion  in  this  life;  there  is 
no  hint  that  it  may  be  completed  in  this  life. 
There  is  only  everywhere  strong  exhortations  to 
ceaseless  effort;  and  strong  encouragements  by 
promises  of  its  completion  in  the  end — against 
"that  day."  "That  day"  of  judgment,  that  is, 
when  God  shall  take  account  of  all  men  and  of  all 
that  is  in  man. 

What  is  thus  fairly  implied  here  is  openly 
taught  elsewhere.  Men  here  are  not  compre- 
hensores  but  viatores;  we  are  fighting  the  good 
fight;  we  are  running  the  race.  The  prize  is  yon- 
der. And  not  until  the  body  of  this  death  is  laid 
aside  shall  the  soul  be  fitted  to  enter  naked  into 
the  presence  of  its  Lord,  there  expecting  until  the 
body  shall  be  restored  to  it — ^no  longer  a  body 
of  death  but  of  glory.  Meanwhile  the  gradual 
process  of  sanctification  goes  on  in  soul  and  body 
— until  the  crisis  comes  when  the  "Spiritus  Crea- 


372  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

tor"  shall  powerfully  intervene  with  the  final  acts 
of  renewal. 

Certainly  the  gradualness  of  this  process  ought 
not  to  disturb  us.  It  may  be  inexplicable  to  us 
that  the  Almighty  God  acts  by  way  of  process. 
But  that  is  revealed  to  us  as  His  chosen  mode  of 
operation  in  every  sphere  of  His  work,  and  should 
not  surprise  us  here.  He  could,  no  doubt,  make 
the  soul  perfect  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye;  just  as  He  could  give  us  each  a  perfect 
body  at  the  very  instant  of  our  believing.  He 
does  not.  The  removal  of  the  stains  and  effects 
of  sin — in  an  evil  heart  and  in  a  sick  and  dying 
body — is  accomplished  in  a  slow  process.  We  all 
grow  sick  and  die — though  Jesus  has  taken  on  His 
broad  shoulders  (among  the  other  penalties  of 
sin)  all  our  sicknesses  and  death  itself.  And  we 
still  struggle  w^ith  the  remainders  of  indwelling 
sin;  though  Jesus  has  bought  for  us  the  sancti- 
fying operations  of  the  Spirit.  To  us  it  is  a  weary 
process.  But  it  is  God's  way.  And  He  does  all 
things  well.  And  the  weariness  of  the  struggle  is 
illuminated  by  hope.  After  a  while! — we  may 
say;  after  a  while!  Or  as  Paul  puts  it:  Faithful 
is  He  that  calls  us — who  also  will  do  it.  He  will 
do  it!  And  so,  after  a  while,  our  spirit,  and  soul 
and  body  shall  be  made  blamelessly  perfect,  all 
to  be  so  presented  before  our  Lord,  at  that  Day. 
Let  us  praise  the  Lord  for  the  glorious  prospect! 


THE   MYSTERY  OF  GODLINESS 

I  Tim.  3:16: — "And  without  controversy  great  is  the  mystery 
of  godliness. " 

"Confessedly  great,"  says  Paul,  "is  the  mys- 
tery of  piety."  This  does  not  mean  that  piety  is 
exceedingly  "mysterious."  There  is  no  "mys- 
tery" in  piety  as  such.  As  Paul  means  it  here  it 
rests  simply,  objectively  on  the  great  fact,  sub- 
jectively on  the  hearty  conviction  that  God  was 
in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  with  Himself.  The 
word  "mystery,"  in  the  usage  of  Paul,  does  not 
imply  inherent  incomprehensibility,  but  only 
actual  inaccessibility  to  the  natural  inquisition  of 
men.  Whatever  is  known  by  revelation  rather 
than  by  unaided  reason,  is,  in  his  usage,  a  "mys- 
tery"; and  the  employment  of  the  word  by  no 
means  implies  that  the  revelation  has  not  already 
taken  place  and  the  hidden  truth  been  made  fully 
known,  but  rather  just  the  contrary.  The  "mys- 
tery of  piety"  is  thus  just  "the  opened  secret  of 
piety."  And  what  Paul  affirms  of  it  is  that  this 
"opened  secret  of  piety"  is  confessedly  of  the 
highest  importance.  "Confessedly  great"  he 
says,  and  he  throws  these  words  forward  with 
sharp  emphasis,  "of  admittedly  the  highest  im- 
portance," "is  the  mystery  of  piety." 

What  Paul  is  doing  in  this  clause,  then,  is  sim- 
373 


374  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ply  impressing  on  Timothy's  mind  as  deeply  as 
possible  a  sense  of  the  supreme  value  of  the  Gospel, 
which  he  calls  a  "mystery"  only  because  it  is  a 
matter  of  revelation,  but  without  the  faintest 
implication  that  it  is  difficult  to  grasp  when  once 
made  known,  or  that  it  includes  in  it  any  elements 
of  the  inscrutable  or  incomprehensible.  Chris- 
tianity, like  other  religions,  had  its  mysteries, 
its  sacred  truths,  made  known  to  its  initiates; 
and  these  mysteries,  as  they  constituted  its  very 
essence,  were  to  every  Christian  of  the  most 
supreme  importance — to  be  carefully  guarded, 
preserved  intact,  and  kept  whole  and  entire,  pure 
and  unadulterated,  at  every  hazard.  Confessedly 
great,  says  the  Apostle  here  with  marked  emphasis, 
admittedly  of  supreme  importance,  is  the  mys- 
tery, the  opened  secret  of  Christian  piety,  the 
Gospel. 

It  is  especially  worth  our  while  to  observe  two 
things  here.  First,  preliminarily,  why  the  Apos- 
tle is  so  strenuous  in  insisting  here  on  the  impor- 
tance of  the  opened  secret  of  piety,  the  value  and 
significance  of  the  Gospel.  And,  secondly,  and 
more  at  large,  because  it  is  this  that  constitutes 
the  burden  of  the  text,  what  the  Apostle  con- 
ceived to  be  this  "  opened  secret  of  piety,"  that  is 
to  say,  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  contents  of 
the  Gospel  which  he  pronounces  here  to  have 
such  confessed  importance. 

We  need  not  delay  long  on  the  preliminary 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  GODLINESS         375 

point.  A  glance  at  the  context  is  enough  to  in- 
form us  that  the  Apostle  insists  on  the  greatness 
of  the  Gospel  here  in  order  to  impress  Timothy 
with  the  importance  of  attending  to  the  direc- 
tions he  had  been  giving  him  as  to  the  proper 
ordering  of  the  Church.  Somewhat  minute  pre- 
scriptions had  been  laid  down  especially  as  to  the 
conduct  of  public  worship  and  as  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church.  In  particular  the  officers  of 
the  Church  had  been  enumerated,  and  the  quali- 
fications for  their  offices  carefully  described.  At 
the  close  of  these  directions,  now,  the  Apostle 
adds  these  pointed  words:  "I  am  writing  these 
things  to  you,  though  I  hope  to  come  to  you  very 
soon:  but  if  I  am  delayed  that  you  may  know 
what  sort  of  behaviour  is  incumbent  in  God's 
house — seeing  that  it  is  the  Church  of  the  Living 
God,  the  pillar  and  buttress  of  the  truth;  and 
confessedly  great  is  the  mystery  of  piety.  ..." 
You  see,  his  appeal  to  the  confessed  greatness  of 
the  truth,  for  the  support  and  propagation  of 
which  in  the  world  the  Church  exists,  is  intended 
to  impress  Timothy  with  a  sense  of  the  importance 
of  the  proper  ordering  and  right  equipment  of  the 
Church  for  this,  its  high  function. 

It  is  of  the  more  importance  that  we  should  note 
this,  that  there  is  a  disposition  abroad  to  treat  all 
matters  of  the  ordering  of  public  worship  and  even 
of  the  organization  of  the  Church  as  of  little  im- 
portance.    We  even  hear  it  said  about  us  with 


376  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

wearisome  iteration  that  the  New  Testament  has 
no  rules  to  give,  no  specific  laws  to  lay  down,  in 
such  matters.  Matters  of  church  government  and 
modes  of  worship,  we  are  told,  are  merely  external 
things,  of  no  sort  of  significance;  and  the  Church 
has  been  left  free  to  find  its  own  best  modes  of 
organization  and  worship,  varying,  doubtless,  in 
the  passage  of  time  and  in  the  Church's  own  pas- 
sage from  people  to  people  of  diverse  characters 
and  predilections.  No  countenance  is  lent  to 
such  sentiments  by  the  passage  before  us;  or, 
indeed,  by  these  Pastoral  Epistles,  the  very  place 
of  which  in  the  Canon  is  a  standing  rebuke  to 
them;  or,  in  fine,  by  anything  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

On  the  contrary,  you  will  observe,  Paul's  point 
of  view  is  precisely  the  opposite  one.  He  takes 
his  start  from  the  inestimable  importance  of  the 
Gospel.  Thence  he  argues  to  the  importance  of 
the  Church  which  has  been  established  in  the 
world,  so  to  speak,  as  the  organ  of  the  Gospel — the 
pillar  and  buttress  on  which  its  purity  and  its 
completeness  rest.  Thence  again  he  argues  to 
the  proper  organization  and  ordering  of  the  Church 
that  it  may  properly  perform  its  high  functions. 
And,  accordingly,  he  gives  minute  prescriptions 
for  the  proper  organization  and  ordering  of  the 
Church — prescribing  the  offices  that  it  should 
have  and  the  proper  men  for  these  offices,  and 
descending  even  into  the  details  of  the  public  ser- 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  GODLINESS        377 

vices.  His  position,  compressed  into  a  nutshell,  is 
simply  this :  the  function  of  the  Church  as  guard- 
ian of  the  truth,  that  glorious  truth  which  is  the 
Gospel,  is  so  high  and  important  that  it  cannot  be 
left  to  accident  or  to  human  caprice  how  this 
Church  should  be  organized  and  its  work  ordered. 
Accordingly,  he,  the  inspired  Apostle — "an  Apostle 
of  Christ  Jesus  according  to  the  commandment  of 
God  our  Saviour  and  Christ,  our  Hope" — has 
prescribed  in  great  detail,  touching  both  organi- 
zation and  order,  how  it  is  necessary  that  men 
should  conduct  themselves  in  the  household  of 
God — which  is  nothing  other  than  the  Church  of 
the  Living  God,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth.  In  other  words,  it  is  God's  Church,  not 
man's,  and  God  has  created  and  now  sustains  it 
for  a  function;  and  He  has  not  neglected  to  order 
it  for  the  best  performance  of  this  function. 

To  imagine  that  it  is  of  little  importance  how 
the  Church  shall  be  organized  and  ordered,  then, 
is  manifestly  to  contradict  the  Apostle.  To  con- 
tend that  no  organization  is  prescribed  for  it  is 
to  deny  the  total  validity  of  the  minute  directions 
laid  down  in  these  epistles.  Nay,  this  whole  point 
of  view  is  as  irrational  as  it  is  unbiblical.  One 
might  as  well  say  that  it  makes  no  difference  how 
a  machine  is  put  together — ^how,  for  example,  a 
typewriter  is  disposed  in  its  several  parts, — be- 
cause, forsooth,  the  typewriter  does  not  exist  for 
itself,  but  for  the  manuscript  which  is  produced  by 


378  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

or  rather  through  it.  Of  course  the  Church  does 
not  exist  for  itself — that  is,  for  the  beauty  of  its 
organization,  the  symmetry  of  its  parts,  the  ma- 
jesty of  its  services;  it  exists  for  its  "product"  and 
for  the  "truth"  which  has  been  committed  to  it 
and  of  which  it  is  the  support  and  stay  in  the 
world.  But  just  on  that  account,  not  less  but 
more,  is  it  necessary  that  it  be  properly  organ- 
ized and  equipped  and  administered — that  it  may 
function  properly.  Beware  how  you  tamper  with 
any  machine,  lest  you  mar  or  destroy  its  product; 
beware  how  you  tamper  with  or  are  indifiFerent  to 
the  Divine  organization  and  ordering  of  the 
Church,  lest  you  thereby  mar  its  efficiency  or  de- 
stroy its  power,  as  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth.  Surely  you  can  trust  God  to  know  how  it  is 
best  to  organize  His  Church  so  that  it  may  per- 
form its  functions  in  the  world.  And  surely  you 
must  assert  that  His  ordering  of  the  Church,  which 
is  His,  is  necessary  if  not  for  the  "esse,"  certainly 
for  the  "bene  esse"  of  the  Church. 

But  our  main  attention  to-day  must  be  given 
to  the  Apostle's  elaboration  of  the  contents  of  this 
"truth,"  or  this  "mystery  of  piety,"  to  support 
and  buttress  which  he  tells  us  the  Church  has  been 
established  in  the  world.  He  moves  Timothy  to 
zeal  in  properly  ordering  the  church  under  his 
care,  by  the  declaration  that  "the  opened  secret 
of  piety,"  to  support  and  buttress  which  the 
Church  exists,  is  confessedly  of  the  utmost  im- 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  GODLINESS         379 

portance.  And  then  he  deepens  and  vitalizes 
the  impression  which  this  declaration  is  calculated 
to  make  by  abruptly  enumerating  the  chief  items 
which  enter  into  this  "mystery  of  piety" — this 
"truth"  for  which  the  Church  exists. 

This  enumeration  thus  embodies  Paul's  con- 
ception of  the  essence  of  the  Gospel,  and  takes  its 
place  among  the  numerous  brief  summaries  of  the 
essence  of  the  Gospel  which  stud  the  pages  of  his 
epistles.  It  differs  from  most  of  them,  however, 
in  this  circumstance — that  it  is  not  couched  in 
language  of  his  own,  but  the  Apostle  has  availed 
himself  here,  as  so  often  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles, 
of  a  form  of  statement  current  in  the  churches, 
which  would  appeal  to  Timothy's  eye  and  heart, 
therefore,  with  all  the  force  of  customary  and 
well-loved  words,  in  which  he  and  the  congrega- 
tion had  been  wont  to  express  their  apprehension 
of  the  truth  most  precious  to  their  hearts.  Whether 
the  words  thus  adduced  are  derived  from  some 
current  liturgical  form,  or  from  a  hymn,  or  merely 
from  some  formulary  of  accustomed  speech,  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing.  We  can  only  be  sure 
that  the  whole  document  is  not  quoted  here  and, 
from  the  balanced,  almost  mechanical  form  of  its 
structure,  that  the  original  document  possessed 
an  elevated  and  festal  character. 

The  choice  of  the  Apostle  to  adduce  the  essence 
of  the  Gospel  from  such  a  current  formulary, 
rather  than  to  frame  it  out  of  his  own  heart,  nat- 


380  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

urally  produces  a  certain  abruptness  in  the  words 
in  which  it  is  introduced.  A  fragment  of  current 
speech,  torn  out  of  its  own  context,  is  here  simply 
juxtaposed  by  way  of  apposition  to  his  own  declar- 
ation, that  the  Gospel  is  a  supremely  important 
thing,  and  left  to  exhibit  that  importance  by  its 
contents.  "Great,"  he  says,  "confessedly  great, 
is  the  opened  secret  of  piety,"  this  to  wit:  "Who 
was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  vindicated  by  the 
Spirit,  observed  by  angels,  proclaimed  among 
peoples,  believed  in  by  the  world,  received  into 
glory."  There  is  not  a  word  to  tell  us  who  was 
the  subject  of  all  these  transactions;  that  was  a 
part  of  the  original  context  of  the  fragment,  and 
here  goes  without  saying;  no  one  of  his  readers — 
least  of  all  his  primary  reader  Timothy,  who  knew 
as  well  as  Paul  the  whole  document  from  which  the 
fragment  was  derived, — would  hesitate  to  supply 
the  subject,  Jesus  Christ.  What  Paul  does  is 
simply  to  avail  himself  of  this  fervent  fragment 
and  set  out  the  contents  of  the  "mystery  of  piety" 
by  means  of  its  rapid  enumeration  of  the  prin- 
cipal transactions  which  concerned  the  redemptive 
work  of  Christ — beginning  with  the  incarnation 
and  ending  with  the  ascension. 

Now,  of  course,  this  means  that  to  Paul,  Christ 
is  the  essence  of  the  Gospel.  As  everywhere  else, 
so  here,  he  sums  up  the  Gospel  in  Christ;  not 
Christ,  of  course,  merely  as  a  person,  but  the  ac- 
tive Christ — or  in  other  words,  in  the  great  re- 


THE  MYSTERY  OF   GODLINESS        381 

demptive  work  of  Christ.  And  it  will  repay  us 
to  observe  in  some  detail  how  the  redemptive 
work  of  Christ  is  presented  to  us  in  this  somewhat 
artificially  because  artistically  ordered  fragment 
of  old  Christian  confessional  expression. 

We  observe,  at  once,  that  the  fragment  con- 
sists of  a  series  of  six  passive  verbs,  rapidly  suc- 
ceeding one  another,  with  the  common  subject 
"Jesus  Christ,"  each  further  defined  by  a  brief 
predicative  qualification;  the  verb  being  put  em- 
phatically forward  in  each  case:  He  was  "mani- 
fested" in  the  flesh,  "vindicated"  by  the  Spirit, 
"seen"  by  angels.  .  .  .  We  observe  next  that  the 
clauses  are  so  arranged  as  to  fall  necessarily  into 
three  contrasting  pairs;  and  yet  these  three  pairs 
are  bound  together  by  the  contrast  in  each  case 
being  made  to  turn  upon  the  contrariety  of  earth 
and  heaven,  or  of  the  flesh  and  the  spirit.  Thus 
we  have  the  successive  triads  on  the  one  hand  of 
the  flesh,  the  peoples,  the  world;  on  the  other  of 
the  Spirit,  the  angels,  glory.  There  is  no  strict 
chronological  order  of  occurrence  followed  in  the 
enumeration,  but  the  pairs  so  succeed  one  an- 
other as  yet  to  suggest  a  beginning,  a  middle  and 
an  end;  the  inception,  the  prosecution,  the  con- 
summation of  Christ's  work.  On  the  one  hand, 
he  was  manifested  in  the  flesh  and  vindicated  by 
the  Spirit.  Here  clearly  His  earthly  life  is  in 
mind,  with  the  stress  laid  perhaps  on  its  inception 
in  the  incarnation  and  its  culmination  in  the  res- 


382  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

iirrection.  Then  we  have  the  declaration  that  He 
was  seen  of  angels  and  proclaimed  among  the 
nations.  Here  the  process  of  the  saving  work  is 
referred  to, — chiasmically  adduced.  Finally,  we 
read.  He  was  believed  on  in  the  world  and  received 
into  glory.  Here  the  stress  is  laid  obviously  on 
the  result  of  His  work.  The  whole  constitutes  an 
exceedingly  comprehensive  description  of  the  pro- 
cess of  redemption,  antithetically  set  forth  in 
balanced  clauses,  which  advert,  one  by  one,  to  a 
characteristic  transaction  of  which  Christ  was  the 
object. 

Let  us  now  briefly  observe  the  several  items  of 
the  description,  seriatim. 

He  "was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  vindicated  by 
the  Spirit."  Here  we  have  the  redemptive  work 
itself  adduced.  First,  the  incarnated  life  in  the 
flesh — He  "was  manifested  in  the  flesh";  next, 
the  successful  issue  of  that  work, — He  "was 
vindicated  by  the  Spirit."  The  two  clauses 
together  constitute  a  singularly  vivid  though 
compressed  picture  of  the  incarnated  work  of 
redemption.  Note  the  clear  implication  of  the 
pre-existence — the  deity — of  the  worker:  He  "was 
manifested," — He  existed  then,  hidden  from  human 
eyes,  before;  "in  the  flesh," — in  his  pre-existence, 
then,  he  was  something  other  than  flesh.  It  is  as 
clear  a  declaration  of  pre-existence  and  incarna- 
tion as  the  Johannean,  "The  Word  became  flesh," 
itself.     There  is  a  change  of  state  implied,  a  change 


THE  MYSTERY  OF  GODLINESS         383 

by  virtue  of  which  what  was  hidden  is  now  brought 
to  light,  and  it  is  brought  to  Hght  because  brought 
into  flesh.  Note  next  the  perfection  of  His  work 
estabHshed:  He  was  "justified  by  the  Spirit"; 
that  is  to  say,  though  appearing  in  the  flesh,  yet  by 
virtue  of  the  Spirit  that  dwelt  in  Him,  His  work  of 
salvation  was  vindicated;  He  rose  from  the  dead, 
and  could  not  be  holden  of  death,  and  so  mani- 
fested the  completeness  of  His  work. 

He  was  "observed  by  angels,  proclaimed  among 
peoples."  Here  the  progress  of  the  saving  work  is 
outlined.  It  was  not  done  in  or  for  a  corner. 
The  object  of  the  wondering  contemplation  of  the 
hosts  of  heaven,  it  is  made  known  also  to  the  in- 
habitants of  earth.  Performed  in  Judea,  in  a  life 
of  confined  and  limited  relations,  to  all  appear- 
ance, yet  it  was  all  the  time  the  focus  of  the  ob- 
servation of  the  angels  of  God,  who  anxiously  de- 
sired to  look  into  it;  and  when  brought  to  its 
glorious  completion,  it  was  made  the  subject  of  a 
world-wide  proclamation.  Obviously  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  Christ — of  the  redemptive  work  of 
Christ — that  is  the  theme  of  the  whole  fragment, 
and  in  this  couplet  we  begin  to  see  it  come  to  light; 
and,  indeed,  the  chiasmic  arrangement  might  well 
have  advised  us  of  it  before,  what  is  most  glorious  in 
it  being  thrust  forward  to  attract  our  first  attention. 

He  was  "believed  on  in  the  world,  received  into 
glory."  Here  we  have  the  issue  of  the  work  ad- 
verted to;  the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  issue.     So 


384  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

little  chronological  is  the  ordering  that  the  con- 
quest of  the  world  by  Christ  is  actually  adduced 
first,  while  His  ascension  is  adduced  last.     The 
order  is  climactic,  not  chronological;   He  has  His 
earthly  reward  and  also  His  heavenly.     In  these 
two  items  the  whole  comes  to  the  appropriate  end. 
And  now  I  think  we  are  prepared  to  see  clearly 
that  the  whole  fragment  is  a  hymn  of  praise  to 
Christ.     He  was  before  all  worlds;    He  was  only 
"manifested"  in  the  flesh  and  vindicated  by  the 
Spirit.     He  was  the  object  of  the  contemplation 
of  the  angels  of  heaven  and  proclaimed  in  all  the 
earth.     He  was  believed  on  in  the  world  and  re- 
ceived into  glory.     It  is  the  Glory  of  Christ  that, 
according  to  Paul  constitutes  the  essence  of  the 
Gospel.     "O,  Jesus,  Thou  art  our  head,  we  are 
thy  body!" — so  one  of  God's  saints  teaches  us  to 
pray.     "How  can  the  body  but  participate  in  the 
glory  of  the  Head.^     As  for  Thyself,  therefore,  so 
also  for  us  art  Thou  possessed  of  that  heavenly 
glory:   as  Thou  sufferedst  for  us,  so  for  us  Thou 
also  reignest.  .  .  .  O  then,  my  soul,  seeing  thy 
Saviour  is  received  up  into  this  infinite  glory,  .  .  . 
how  canst  thou  abide  to  grovel  any  longer  on  this 
base  earth?  .  .  .  With  what  longings  and  holy 
ambition  shouldst  thou  desire  to  aspire  to  that 
place  of  eternal  rest  and  beatitude  into  which  thy 
Saviour  has  .ascended,  and  with  him  be  partaker 
of  that  glory  and  happiness  which  he  hath  pro- 
vided for  all  that  love  him." 


THE  INVIOLATE  DEPOSIT 

I  Tim.  6:20,  21:— "O  Timothy,  guard  that  which  is  committed 
mito  thee,  turning  away  from  the  profane  babblings  and  opposi- 
tions of  the  knowledge  which  is  falsely  so  called;  which  some  pro- 
fessing have  erred  concerning  the  faith." 

This  short  paragraph  looks  very  much  like  a 
concluding  summary,  added,  possibly,  by  the 
Apostle's  own  hand,  in  which  the  whole  gist  of 
the  First  Epistle  to  Timothy  is  summed  up.  It  is 
almost  as  if  the  Apostle — after  all  the  explanations 
and  exhortations  in  which  he  had  instructed  and 
encouraged  his  own  son  in  faith  to  perform  the 
great  duties  laid  on  him  in  errant  Ephesus — had 
paused  suddenly  and  said  in  effect,  "Hear  the 
sum  of  the  whole  matter.  Be  faithful  to  the  Gospel 
committed  to  you  and  shun  all  the  pretentious 
show  of  superior  learning  which  is  proving  a  snare 
to  many.'*  Such  an  exhortation,  it  is  manifest, 
has  its  universal  and  perennial  value;  and  is  pe- 
culiarly applicable  to  those  in  our  situation.  As 
we  begin  another  year  of  our  intellectual  prepara- 
tion for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  grace,  it  is 
especially  becoming  that  we  should  have  in  mind 
that  it  will  be  our  wisdom  too,  as  it  is  manifestly 
our  duty,  "to  keep  the  deposit  inviolate"  and  to 
shun  the  worldly  inanities  and  contradictions  of 
falsely  so-called  knowledge,   by  making  profes- 

385 


386  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

sion  of  which  so  many  in  every  age,  and  in  our  age 
too,  have  gone  astray  with  respect  to  faith. 

These  latest  epistles  of  Paul  are  commonly 
called  Pastoral  because  of  their  direct  address  to 
the  shepherds  of  the  flock,  and  every  word  in  such 
an  exhortation  as  this,  in  such  an  Epistle  as  this, 
has  a  quasi-technical  value.  The  key  word  among 
these  words  is  the  one  which  I  have  ventured  to 
render  after  the  Vulgate,  "the  deposit,"  and 
which  the  Authorized  Version  deals  with  by  means 
of  a  paraphrase:  "that  which  is  committed  to  thy 
trust."  It  does  not  occur  very  often,  but  it  does 
occur  frequently  enough  to  show  that  it  and  its 
cognate  verb  are  employed  by  the  Apostle  as  a 
well-known  designation  of  the  Gospel,  considered 
as  a  body  of  Divine  truth  entrusted  to  those  whom 
God  has  chosen  as  its  ministers.  As  such,  it 
stands  in  very  clear  relations  with  another  tech- 
nical term  employed  by  the  New  Testament  writ- 
ers to  describe  the  function  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel, — the  term  "witness."  The  Gospel  is  a 
"deposit";  the  function  of  the  minister  is,  there- 
fore, "witnessing."  The  two  ideas,  you  see,  go 
necessarily  together.  The  witness  is  in  his  es- 
sential nature  not  a  producer  but  a  reproducer; 
he  is  not  the  author  of  his  message  but  its  trans- 
mitter; his  message  is,  therefore,  not  of  his  own 
devising  but  something  committed  to  his  trust, — 
a  deposit.  I  do  not  know  where  the  fundamental 
significance  of  the  word  "deposit"  and  its  impli- 


THE  INVIOLATE  DEPOSIT  387 

cations  as  to  the  duty  of  the  minister  is  more 
richly  developed  than  in  a  Fifth  Century  exposi- 
tion of  this  passage,  by  Vincent  of  Lerins.  His 
comment  is  so  instructive  that  I  cannot  forbear 
quoting  a  part  of  it  to  you.  "What,"  he  asks, 
"is  a  deposit?"  "It  is  something,"  he  answers, 
"that  is  accredited  to  thee,  not  invented  by  thee; 
something  that  thou  hast  received,  not  that  thou 
hast  thought  out;  a  result  not  of  genius  but  of  in- 
struction; not  of  personal  ownership  but  of  pub- 
lic tradition;  a  matter  brought  to  thee  not  pro- 
duced by  thee,  with  respect  to  which  thou  art 
bound  to  be  not  an  author  but  a  custodian,  not 
an  originator  but  a  bearer,  not  a  leader  but  a 
follower." 

It  is  this  that  Paul  means  to  emphasize  when  he 
calls  the  Gospel  a  "deposit."  I  rightly  say  he 
means  to  emphasize  this.  For  he  not  only  calls 
the  Gospel  a  "deposit,"  but  he  sets  it  as  such  in 
contrast  with  its  opposite,  and  that  opposite 
proves  to  be  just  irresponsible  speculation.  O 
Timothy,  he  says,  keep  the  deposit  inviolate !  And 
how  is  he  to  keep  the  deposit  inviolate.^  "By 
shunning  the  profane  inanities  and  contradic- 
tions of  falsely  so-called  knowledge."  You  see 
the  contrast  is  precisely  between  the  Divine  de- 
posit and  worldly  knowledge.  And  he  describes 
this  worldly  knowledge  by  epithets  which  are  suf- 
ficiently discrediting  to  it.  It  consists  of  a  mass 
of  inanities  and  self-contradictions;    it  is,  there- 


388  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fore,  not  real  knowledge  but  only  knowledge 
falsely  so  called.  No  doubt  he  had  his  eye  on  a 
specific  instance, — the  nascent  Gnosticism,  let  us 
call  it,  which  was  disturbing  the  church  at  Ephe- 
sus,  and  to  rebuke  and  correct  which  Timothy 
was  in  Ephesus.  But  I  think  that  it  would  be 
wrong  to  suppose  that  the  Apostle  had  this  ex- 
clusively in  mind.  Rather  he  seems  to  be  viewing 
it  as  a  type,  of  a  whole  class.  Or,  let  us  at  once 
put  it  as  broadly  as  we  think  it  lay  in  his  own  mind; 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  Apostle  would 
speak  in  exactly  these  terms  of  any  worldly  knowl- 
edge whatever,  any  form  of  earthly  philosophy  or 
science,  that  infringed  upon  or  sought  to  substi- 
tute itself  more  or  less  for  the  "deposit"  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Any  speculation,  any  philoso- 
phizing, any  form  of  learning,  any  scientific  the- 
orizing which  sought  to  intrude  itself,  in  the  way 
of  modifying  it  in  the  least  respect,  upon  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ, — which  is  a  sacred  deposit  com- 
mitted to  its  ministers  not  to  dilute  or  to  alter  or 
to  modify,  but  to  learn,  hold,  guard  and  preach, — 
would  be  characterized  by  Paul  without  hesita- 
tion as  among  the  profane  inanities  and  contra- 
dictions of  knowledge  falsely  so  called. 

Our  memory  reverts  at  once  to  the  splendid 
passage  in  the  opening  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  in  which  Paul  magnificently 
contrasts  the  wisdom  of  the  world  with  the  sim- 
pHcity  of  the  message  of  the  cross,  and  passion- 


THE  INVIOLATE  DEPOSIT  389 

ately  declares  that  God  has  made  the  wisdom  of 
the  world  mere  foolishness.  Yes,  there  is  pas- 
sion, a  holy  passion,  but  real  passion,  in  Paul's 
renunciation  of  all  human  wisdom  and  declaration 
that  God  will  destroy  the  wisdom  of  the  wise  and 
reject  the  prudence  of  the  prudent.  And  some 
of  that  same  passion  is  throbbing  in  the  vigorous 
language  of  our  present  passage.  Not  indeed 
knowledge  as  such,  but  all  human  knowledge  as  a 
substitute  for,  or  a  modifying  force  in,  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  is  to  Paul  a  mass  of  mere  profane  inan- 
ities and  self-contradictions,  to  give  oneself  to 
which  is  to  miss  the  mark  with  respect  to  faith. 
Dirt  has  been  illuminatingly  defined  as  matter  out 
of  place.  Any  substance,  no  matter  how  previous 
in  itself,  if  out  of  place  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
just  dirt.  Gold-dust  in  your  eye  is  just  dirt;  wash 
it  out;  it  is  an  offence  there.  Diamonds  scattered 
in  your  porridge  are  dirt;  cast  them  out.  To  the 
starving  man  seeking  nourishment  and  life,  they 
are  not  only  an  offensive  evil  but  a  destructive  evil. 
You  all  know  how  Kjng  Midas  found  that  gold  in 
the  wrong  place  could  become  the  worst  of  ills. 
So  it  is  with  knowledge.  What,  in  its  proper 
place,  is  knowledge, — to  be  sought,  loved  and  cher- 
ished as  such,  to  be  valued  and  utilized  for  its 
own  good  ends, — becomes  knowledge  falsely  so 
called  whenever  it  intrudes  into  a  place  not  its 
own;  a  mass  of  mere  inanities  and  self-contradic- 
tions.    And  it  is  just  this  that  Paul  means  here. 


390  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

He  is  not  condemning  knowledge  as  such.  He, 
too,  would  say  with  the  poet — 

"Who  loves  not  knowledge?     Who  shall  rail 
Against  her  beauty?     May  she  mix 
With  men  and  prosper!  .  .  . 
.   .  .  Let  her  work  prevail." 

But  just  so  soon  as  it  presses  beyond  its  mark 
and  presumes  to  substitute  itself  for  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  or  to  demand  an  alteration  in  that  Gos- 
pel, or  a  modification  of  it,  however  slight,  his 
righteous  passion  rises.  Dirt!  he  cries, — matter 
out  of  place!  the  profane  inanities  and  self- 
contradictions  of  falsely  so-called  knowledge! 

"Falsely  so-called  knowledge" — that  phrase  is 
his  tribute  to  the  value  of  real  knowledge.  When 
thus  debauched  knowledge  ceases  to  be  knowledge 
and  becomes  mere  "falsely  so-called  knowledge." 
"Profane  inanities  and  self-contradictions,'*  that 
is  Paul's  description  of  what  knowledge  out  of  place 
is;  pressing  beyond  its  mark  to  become  procuress 
to  the  lords  of  hell.  For,  says  he,  those  that 
make  so  much  profession  of  such  knowledge  are 
too  often  observed  to  miss  the  mark  with  respect 
to  faith.  The  passion  that  burns  in  these  words 
rises  to  sight  everywhere  in  these  epistles,  when 
the  intrusion  of  human  speculation  into  matters 
of  faith  falls  to  be  mentioned,  and  quite  a  choice 
vocabulary  of  reprobation  might  be  extracted 
from  Paul's  expression  of  it.  On  the  other  side, 
what  a  fervour  of  love  is  manifested  for  that  "  de- 


THE  INVIOLATE  DEPOSIT  391 

posit"  which  is  the  Gospel  of  God's  saving  grace! 
He  calls  it  in  the  present  passage,  to  be  sure,  sim- 
ply "the  deposit,"  but  I  am  not  sure  that  the  very 
simplicity  of  the  designation  is  not  surcharged 
with  passionate  devotion.    "The  Deposit,"  ''The 
Deposit,"  ''The  Deposit/'  "Guard  the  Deposit," 
**  Keep  The  Deposit  inviolate."     It  is  as  if  there 
were   but   one  deposit  conceivable  to  him   and 
to  those  to  whom  he  wrote.      And  see  how  he 
claims  it  as  his  own,  in  2  Tim.  1:12,  calling  it 
"my  deposit."     "I  know  whom  I  have  believed 
and  I  am  persuaded— though  I  fall  by  the  way 
— yet  He  is  able  to  keep  my  deposit  against  that 
day."     To  Paul  his  deposit  was  more  than  life 
itself.     Paul    may    go— but    what    then.?     "The 
deposit,"  "his  deposit"  is  safe  in  the  hands  of 
Him  who  committed  it  to  him.     And  then,  again, 
two  verses  lower  (2  Tim.  1:14),  "Keep,  O  Tim- 
othy, keep  inviolate,  the  beautiful  deposit  through 
the  Holy  Ghost  that  dwelleth  in  us."     Ah,  it  is  the 
devotion  of  Paul  for  "the  deposit"  that  makes  him 
speak  such  passionate  words  against  that  which 
would  supplement  or  adulterate  it.     It  is  its  sur- 
passing glory  which  makes  dull  the  glory  of  that 
which  away  from  it  would  itself  be  glorious.     The 
glory  of  the  world  of  intellect  itself  fades  like  that 
of  the  face  of  Moses,  like  that  of  the  old  covenant 
in  the  presence  of  the  new, — by  reason  only  of  the 
glory  that  surpasses  all— the  glory  of  that  glorious 
Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God.     It  is,  in  a  word,  the 


392  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

inherent  preciousness  of  the  Gospel,  not  the  in- 
herent valuelessness  of  knowledge,  that  makes  all 
knowledge  in  contrast  with  it,  but  foolishness — 
but  a  mass  of  profane  inanities  and  self-contra- 
dictions which  should  not  be  permitted  to  intrude 
into  these  sacred  precincts. 

A  practical  lesson  imposes  itself  upon  us.  Preach 
a  full-orbed,  a  complete  Gospel.  The  deposit  is 
not  yours  to  deal  with  as  you  will;  it  is  another's 
entrusted  to  your  care.  The  deposit  is  not  your 
product  to  be  treated  as  you  will ;  it  is  the  creation 
of  another  placed  in  your  keeping.  You  are  but 
its  witnesses.  Bear  your  witness  truly  and  bear 
it  fully.     Keep  the  deposit  inviolate. 


THE  WAY  OF  LIFE 

Titus  3:4-7: — "But  when  the  kindness  of  God,  our  Saviour,  and 
his  love  towards  man,  appeared,  not  by  works  done  in  righteous- 
ness, which  we  did  ourselves,  but  according  to  his  mercy  he  saved 
us,  through  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  which  he  poured  out  upon  us  richly,  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour;  that  being  justified  by  his  grace,  we  might  be  made 
heirs  according  to  the  hope  of  eternal  life." 

The  short  epistle  to  Titus  contains,  amid  its 
practical  and  ecclesiastical  directions  for  the  giving 
of  which  it  was  written,  two  doctrinal  statements 
of  quite  wonderful  richness  and  compression  both  of 
which  have  been  easily  brought  into  the  compass 
of  the  passage  read  in  your  hearing  this  afternoon. 
They  differ  from  each  other  in  intent  and  content, 
as  you  will  doubtless  have  observed.  But  they  are 
alike  in  gathering  into  the  narrow  space  of  a  few 
words  the  essence  of  the  Gospel,  and  expressing  it  in 
words  of  a  singularly  festal  and  jubilant  character, 
words  which  strike  the  reader  as  at  once  precise  and 
comprehensive,  as  at  once  theologically  exact  and 
peculiarly  fitted  for  public  credal  use. 

Statements  of  this  kind  are  characteristic  of 
these  latest  epistles  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  which  we 
class  together  under  the  common  title  of  the  Pas- 
toral Epistles,  and  which  share  not  only  the  late 
date  but  also   a  character  appropriate  to  their 

origin  at  the  end  of  Paul's  life  when  he  was  busied 

393 


394  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

with  consolidating  and  extending  the  churches  he 
had  founded  rather  than  with  the  first  planting 
of  Christianity  in  the  fresh  soil  of  an  unbelieving 
world.  They  present  the  doctrines  of  Paul,  after 
they  had  been  used,  and  worn  round  by  use.  They 
represent  the  sifting  down  of  his  doctrinal  expo- 
sitions into  compact  form;  their  compression  into 
something  like  pebbles  from  the  brook  ready  to  be 
flung  with  sure  aim  and  to  sink  into  the  foreheads 
of  the  Goliaths  of  unbelief.  They  represent  the 
form  which  his  doctrinal  expositions  had  taken  as 
current  coin  in  the  churches,  no  longer  merely 
Paul's  teaching,  though  all  of  that,  but  the  pre- 
cious possessions  of  the  people  themselves,  in 
which  they  were  able  to  give  back  to  him  a  re- 
sponse from  their  listening  hearts.  They  are  no 
longer  mere  dialectical  elaboration  of  the  truth; 
but  have  become  forms  of  sound  words.  As  such, 
such  passages  are  sometimes  accompanied  by  a 
phrase  peculiar  to  these  Pastoral  Epistles,  which 
advertises  these  statements  as  something  other 
than  a  teacher's  novel  presentations  of  truth  to  as 
yet  untaught  hearers:  "This  is  a  faithful  saying." 
"This  is  a  faithful  saying" — a  "trustworthy  say- 
ing"— in  other  words,  this  is  a  saying  well-known 
among  you,  that  has  been  long  repeated  in  your 
ears,  that  has  been  tested  and  found  not  wanting. 
This  is  good  coin;  and  "worthy,"  it  is  sometimes 
added,  "of  all  acceptation." 

Our  present  passage  is  one  of  these  "faithful 


THE  WAY  OF  LIFE  395 

sayings."  "Faithful  is  the  saying,"  the  Apostle 
adds  on  completing  it,  "and  concerning  these 
things  I  will  that  thou  shouldst  affirm  confidently." 
Thus  he  tells  us  how  important,  how  well-con- 
sidered, how  final  and  trustworthy  this  statement 
of  truth  is.  Let  us  approach  its  study  in  a  spirit 
suitable  to  so  solemn  an  injunction. 

The  first  thing  that  we  observe  in  the  passage 
is  the  melody  that  rises  from  it  of  praise  to  God. 
It  is  the  "kindness  of  God  our  Saviour  and  his 
love  towards  men"  which  sets  its  key-note.  The 
special  terms  in  which  God's  goodness  is  here 
praised.  His  "benignity"  and  "philanthropy,"  are 
due,  indeed,  to  the  context.  The  Apostle  had  just 
been  thinking  and  speaking  about  men;  and  he 
could  not  think  or  speak  of  them  as  either  "be- 
nignant" or  "philanthropic."  He  would  have 
them  exhorted  to  be  subject  to  those  over  them, 
obedient,  prone  to  good  works,  and  averse  to  evil 
speaking  and  contentiousness,  gentle  and  meek. 
But  such  they  were  not  showing  themselves. 
Christians  themselves  could  remember  how  afore- 
time they  lived  in  malice  and  envy,  hateful  and 
hating  one  another.  What  could  be  expected 
from  man?  WHiat  a  contrast  when  one  lifted  his 
eyes  from  this  scene  of  lust  and  malice  and  envy 
and  hatred — men  striving  with  one  another  to 
surpass  each  other  in  doing  injury  to  their  fellows 
— and  set  them  on  God,  to  see  His  benignity  and 
philanthropy!     The  whole  passage  is  pervaded  by 


S96  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

the  suggestion  of  God's  kindness  and  humanity; 
thrown  out  into  sharp  relief  by  its  contrast  with 
man's  malice  and  hatred.  Nothing  can  be  ex- 
pected of  or  from  man;  but  God  has  manifested 
His  benignity  and  philanthropy  to  us  and  by 
them  saved  us.  Man  would  destroy,  God  saves. 
But  there  is  much  more  than  this  to  be  said. 
The  passage  is  not  only  pervaded  by  the  suggestion 
of  God's  general  goodness;  it  is  a  psalm  of  praise  to 
God  for  His  saving  love.  It  sings  not  only  "Gloria 
Deo "  but  "Soli  Deo  Gloria."  Our  salvation  is  its 
subject.  It  not  only  ascribes  salvation  in  its  root 
to  God's  love;  it  ascribes  it  in  every  one  of  its 
details  to  God's  loving  activities  and  to  them 
alone;  it  ascribes  its  beginning  and  middle  and 
end  to  Him  and  to  Him  only.  The  various  ac- 
tivities that  enter  into  our  salvation  are  enumer- 
ated; and  every  one  of  them  is  declared  to  be  a 
loving  activity  of  God  and  of  Him  alone.  This 
passage  is  even  remarkable  in  this  respect.  Even 
in  that  classical  passage  in  Ephesians,  which  is 
designed  to  ascribe  salvation  wholly  to  God,  and 
to  empty  man  of  all  ground  of  boasting,  we  have 
faith,  at  least,  mentioned:  "We  are  saved  by 
grace,  through  faith";  though  it  is  immediately 
added:  "And  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the 
gift  of  God."  But  this  passage  leaves  faith  itself 
to  one  side  as  not  requiring  mention.  There  are 
no  subjective  conditions  to  salvation,  in  the  sense 
of  conditions  which  we  must  perform  in  order  to 


THE  WAY  OF  LIFE  397 

obtain  or  retain  salvation.  It  is  God  alone  who 
saves,  "not  by  means  of  any  works  in  righteous- 
ness which  we  have  done  ourselves  but  in  con- 
sequence of  his  mercy"  and  of  that  alone.  Not 
even  faith  itself,  that  instrument  of  reception  to 
which  salvation  comes,  can  be  conceived  of  as 
entering  causally  into  God's  saving  work.  It  is 
He  and  He  alone  who  saves;  and  the  roots  of 
His  saving  operations  are  set  deep  in  His  mercy 
only.  If  we  are  saved  at  all,  it  is  because — ^not 
that  we  have  worked,  not  that  we  have  believed, — 
but  that  God  has  manifested  His  benignity  and 
philanthropy  in  saving  us  out  of  His  mere  mercy. 
He  has,  through  Jesus  Christ,  shed  down  His 
Holy  Spirit  to  regenerate  and  renovate  us  that 
we  might  be  justified  "by  His  grace," — in  other 
words,  gratuitously,  not  on  the  ground  of  our 
faith, — and  so  be  made  heirs  of  eternal  life. 

Our  passage  empties  man  of  all  glory  in  the 
matter  of  salvation  and  reserves  all  the  glory  to 
God.  But  this  is  not  because  it  does  not  know 
how  to  distribute  honour  to  whom  honour  is  due. 
Man  has  no  part  in  the  procuring  or  in  the  apply- 
ing of  salvation,  but  there  are  Three  Persons  who 
have;  and  our  passage  recognizes  the  praise  due  to 
each,  and  distributes  to  each  Person  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  the  saving  operations  which  belong  to  Him. 
*^God  .  .  .  according  to  His  mercy,  .  .  .  saved 
us,  through  the  washing  of  regeneration  and  re- 
newal of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  He  poured  out  on 


398  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

us  richly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour."  The 
source  of  our  salvation  is  to  be  sought  in  the  loving 
mercy  of  God  the  Father.  The  ground  of  the  sav- 
ing activities  exerted  on  us  is  to  be  sought  in  the 
work  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour.  The  agent  in 
the  actual  saving  work  is  to  be  sought  in  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Here  are  brought  before  us  God  our  Lover, 
Christ  our  Redeemer,  the  Spirit  our  Sanctifier,  as 
all  operative  in  the  one  composite  work  of  salva- 
tion. To  God  the  Father  is  ascribed  the  whole 
scheme  of  salvation  and  the  entire  direction  of  the 
saving  work;  it  is  His  benignity  and  philanthropy 
that  is  manifested  in  it;  it  is  according  to  His  own 
mercy  that  He  has  saved  us;  it  is  He  that  saved 
us;  He  saved  us  through  the  Holy  Spirit;  He 
poured  out  the  Holy  Spirit  through  Jesus  Christ: 
it  is  His  salvation  and  it  is  He  that  has  given  it  to 
us.  To  Jesus  Christ  is  ascribed  the  work  of 
"Saviour"  by  which  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  rendered  possible  to  God.  The  nature 
of  His  work  is  not  precisely  outlined  in  our  pas- 
sage; but  in  the  preceding  passage  we  are  told 
that  "He  gave  Himself  for  us,  that  He  might  re- 
deem us  from  all  iniquity."  This  it  is  that  the 
Son  does  for  us.  To  the  Holy  Spirit  is  ascribed 
the  actual  application  of  the  redemption  wrought 
out  by  Christ.  The  items  of  this  application  are 
very  richly  developed,  and  the  development  of 
them  constitutes  the  strength  of  the  passage. 
If  we  will  scrutinize  the  items  in  which  the  ap- 


THE  WAY  OF  LIFE 

plying  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  developed,  we 
shall  perceive  that  they  supply  us  with  a  complete 
"order  of  salvation."  We  are  told  that  God  saves 
us  in  His  mere  mercy,  by  a  renovating  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  founded  on  the  redeeming  work  of 
Christ;  and  we  are  told  that  this  renovating  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  in  order  that  we  might  be 
justified  and  so  become  heirs.  Here  the  purchase 
by  the  death  of  Christ  is  made  the  condition 
precedent  of  the  regeneration  of  the  Holy  Spirit; 
but  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  made  the  con- 
dition precedent  to  justification  and  adoption.  We 
are  bought  unto  God  by  Christ  in  order  that  we 
may  be  brought  to  God  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
in  bringing  us  to  God,  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  by 
regenerating  us  in  order  that  we  may  be  justified 
so  as  to  be  made  heirs.  In  theological  language, 
this  is  expressed  by  saying  that  the  impetration  of 
salvation  precedes  its  application:  the  whole  of 
the  impetration,  the  whole  of  the  application. 
And  in  the  application,  the  Spirit  works  by  first 
regenerating  the  soul,  next  justifying  it,  next 
adopting  it  into  the  family  of  God,  and  next  sanc- 
tifying it.  In  the  more  vital  and  less  analytical 
language  of  our  present  passage,  this  is  asserted 
by  founding  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  the 
work  of  Christ:  "which  He  poured  out  upon  us 
richly  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour";  by  in- 
cluding in  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  regenera- 
tion,  justification,   adoption,   and   a   few  verses 


400  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

lower  dowii,  sanctification;  and  by  declaring  that 
the  regeneration  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  "in  order 
that  being  justified  we  might  be  made  heirs." 

Now  what  are  the  practical  fruits  of  this  teach- 
ing? The  Apostle  says  it  is  faithful  teaching, 
which  he  wishes  to  have  confidently  affirmed,  to 
the  end  that  they  which  have  believed  God  may  be 
careful  to  maintain  good  works.  It  is  encour- 
aging teaching  to  believers  to  tell  them  that  they 
are  not  their  own  saviours  but  God  is  their  Sav- 
iour; that  their  salvation  is  not  suspended  on 
their  own  works  or  the  strength  of  their  own  faith, 
but  on  the  strength  of  God's  love  and  His  mercy 
alone;  that  all  Three  Persons  of  the  Trinity  are 
engaged  in  and  pledged  to  their  salvation;  that 
Christ's  work  for  them  is  finished  and  they  are 
redeemed  to  God  by  His  precious  blood  and  are, 
henceforth,  God's  purchased  possession;  that  it  is 
not  dependent  on  their  own  weakness  but  on  the 
Spirit's  strength  whether  they  will  be  brought  into 
the  enjoyment  of  their  salvation;  that  the  Spirit 
has  been  poured  richly  out  upon  them;  that  He  has 
begun  His  work  of  renovation  within  them;  that 
this  is  but  the  pledge  of  the  end  and  as  they  have 
been  regenerated  and  justified,  so  have  they  been 
brought  into  the  family  of  God  and  made  heirs  of 
eternal  life.  This  is  encouraging  teaching  for  be- 
lievers! Shall  they,  then,  because  they  are  saved 
out  of  God's  mercy  and  not  out  of  works  in  right- 
eousness which  they  have  done  themselves,  be 


THE  WAY  OF  LIFE  401 

careless  to  maintain  good  works?  I  trow  not; 
and  the  Apostle  troweth  not.  Because  of  this, 
they  will  now  be  careful  "to  maintain  good  works." 
Let  us  see  to  it  then  that  by  so  doing  we  approve 
ourselves  as  true  believers,  saved  by  God's  grace, 
not  out  of  works  but  unto  good  works,  which  He 
hath  afore  prepared  that  we  should  walk  in  them ! 
This  is  what  the  Apostle  would  have  us  do. 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL 

2  Tim.  1:9,  10: — "Who  saved  us  and  called  us  with  a  holy 
calling,  not  according  to  our  works,  but  according  to  his  own  pur- 
pose and  grace,  which  was  given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  times 
eternal,  but  hath  now  been  manifested  by  the  appearing  of  our 
Saviour  Christ  Jesus,  who  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and 
incorruption  to  light  through  the  Gospel." 

Second  Timothy  is  the  last  letter  written  by 
Paul.  More  than  that,  it  was  written  during  the 
last  days  of  his  life.  He  had  fought  his  fight  and 
finished  his  course.  What  had  the  Gospel  he  had 
preached  done  for  him.'^  What  was  his  attitude 
towards  the  salvation  in  Christ  Jesus  which  he 
had  so  long  proclaimed,  now  that  life  was  over  and 
he  could  look  back  in  a  detached  sort  of  a  way 
over  its  whole  course.^  Did  it  seem  to  him  in  those 
sad  disillusioning  days  as — scarcely  worth  while  .^ 

It  certainly  is  interesting  to  catch  Paul's  last 
thoughts  about  the  Gospel;  to  learn  what  that 
Gospel  was  and  what  it  was  to  him  as  the  sands  of 
his  life  ran  out;  to  compare  it  with  the  Gospel  he 
had  grasped  with  such  enthusiasm  at  the  outset 
and  propagated  with  such  zeal  during  the  days  of 
his  strength  and  freedom.  Well,  it  is  reassuring 
to  find  that  the  Gospel  Paul  preached  at  the  end 
was  just  the  same  old  Gospel  he  had  embraced  at 
the  beginning.     And  more  than  that,  that  it  was 

the  same  to  him. 

402 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  403 

Tliere  is  even  an  odd  echo  in  the  very  language 
he  uses  here  to  describe  the  Gospel  of  that  which 
he  had  employed  in  the  earlier,  lustier  days.  To 
the  Romans  he  had  written  that  he  was  not 
ashamed  of  the  Gospel,  because  it  was  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation.  To  Timothy  he  gives  the 
exhortation  not  to  be  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  but 
to  endure  manfully  in  its  behalf,  with  an  endur- 
ance measured  only  by  the  power  of  God  mani- 
fested in  the  salvation  it  had  brought. 

The  echo  in  the  language,  I  say,  is  oddly  close, 
because  there  is  no  direct  connection  between  the 
two  passages;  and  when  closely  scrutinized  they 
are  perceived  to  speak  of  two  very  different  things. 
In  Romans  we  have  an  objective  statement;  in 
Second  Timothy  an  intensely  subjective  one.  Li 
the  one  case  the  contrast  is  with  the  scorn  of 
the  world.  Paul  will  not  be  deterred  by  that;  he 
cannot  be  ashamed  to  preach  a  Gospel  in  which  is 
enshrined  the  power  of  God  to  save.  In  the  other 
case,  the  contrast  is  with  the  persecution  of  the 
world.  Timothy  is  not  to  shrink  back  before  the 
dangers  that  now  hang  over  the  proclamation  of 
the  Gospel,  but  to  witness  straight  on,  emboldened 
by  the  saving  power  of  this  Gospel  in  his  own  heart. 

One  passage  is  then  in  no  sense  a  repetition  of 
the  other;  both  are  rather  embodiments  of  the 
same  fundamental  idea  for  completely  different 
ends.  This  fundamental  idea  is  that  the  Gospel 
is  the  power  of  God  to  salvation  and  therefore  a 


404  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

thing  of  which  no  man  with  a  mind  to  see  can 
possibly  be  ashamed,  and  which  no  man  with  a 
heart  to  feel  can  possibly  be  frightened  away  from 
proclaiming.  Because  it  has  the  dynamics  of  life 
in  it,  it  stands  immeasurably  above  all  the  so- 
called  Gospels  that  men  can  proclaim.  Nay,  be- 
cause it  has  the  dynamics  of  life  in  it,  he  who  has 
it  hidden  in  his  heart  cannot  fear  death. 

One  sees  the  enheartening  power  there  is  in  this 
perception  of  the  Gospel  as  the  power  of  God  to 
salvation.  We  cannot  wonder  that  Paul  uses  this 
conception,  whether  to  enhearten  himself  in  preach- 
ing it  despite  the  scorn  of  men,  or  in  enheartening 
Timothy  in  preaching  it  despite  the  persecutions  of 
men.  It  is  natural  then  that  it  should  crop  out 
here  again,  where  the  Apostle  would  fain  put  new 
courage  into  Timothy  in  the  sad  time  that  had 
come  upon  the  Gospel  proclamation.  The  propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  through  the  Roman  world  had 
hung  largely  on  the  arm  of  Paul.  But  that  arm 
was  now  stricken  down,  and  Paul  was  lying  in 
the  Roman  prison  with  nothing  to  anticipate  ex- 
cept an  inglorious  death.  Something  like  a  panic 
seems  to  have  fallen  upon  the  little  circle  of  helpers 
on  whom  he  was  accustomed  to  depend  as  on 
hands  and  feet  in  the  prosecution  of  his  great  mis- 
sionary task.  Though  in  prison  and  nearing  the 
fatal  issue,  the  burden  of  the  churches  still  rested 
on  his  stricken  arm.  He  enumerates  the  dispo- 
sition of  the  forces  he  had  made  and  was  making. 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  405 

For  the  work  at  Rome,  however,  he  was  short- 
handed  and  felt  helpless.  One  of  those  whom  he 
had  depended  on  for  the  dangerous  work  there 
had  fled.  Only  Luke  remamed  with  him;  he 
needed  two  additional  helpers.  He  turns  to  Tim- 
othy and  Mark;  and  it  is  striking  to  see  him  turn 
to  these  two  in  his  hour  of  need,  and  with  obvious 
trust  and  confidence  in  them.  On  a  former  oc- 
casion Mark  had  forsaken  him  at  a  juncture 
of  importance.  And  many  commentators  have 
thought  that  his  general  tone  to  Timothy  implies 
that  Paul  thought  him  little  endowed  with  the 
quality  of  daring.  This  appears  to  rest  on  a  mis- 
take; the  effort  which  the  Apostle  makes  to  en- 
hearten  Timothy  for  his  work  does  not  seem  to 
imply  special  timidity  suspected  in  him  so  much 
as  the  need  of  special  courage  for  what  he  asks  of 
him.  At  all  events,  his  choice  of  Timothy  for  aid 
in  this  hour  of  need  and  the  express  encomium 
which  he  passes  on  Mark  as  one  fitted  to  be  his 
companion  in  the  arduous  service  asked  of  him 
would  seem  to  be  a  diploma  of  trustworthiness 
given  to  these  helpers.  We  may  be  sure  that  he 
wishes  for  Timothy  and  Mark  in  this  sad  time 
to  be  standing  by  his  side,  because  he  had  special 
confidence  in  just  Timothy  and  Mark. 

Nevertheless  Paul  recognizes  that  there  is  very 
special  need  of  courage  and  boldness  for  the  service 
he  is  asking.  And  in  asking  the  service  he  points 
Timothy  to  the  source  of  strength.     That  source 


406  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

of  strength  to  which  he  points  Timothy  is,  briefly, 
the  Gospel,  conceived  as  embodying  the  power  of 
God  to  salvation.  He  reminds  Timothy  first  of 
his  hereditary  faith;  next  of  his  endowment  with 
grace  by  the  laying  on  of  the  Apostle's  hands; 
but  finally  and  chiefly  of  the  power  of  God  he  had 
himself  experienced  in  the  Gospel  which  he  was 
called  on  to  preach  and  for  which  he  was  to  be 
ready  also  to  suffer.  It  was  not  his  human 
strength  that  was  to  be  called  on  for  this  great  en- 
durance; haply  that  might  soon  be  exhausted. 
His  endurance  was  to  be  limited  only  by  the  power 
of  God,  of  that  God  who  had  saved  him  and  called 
him  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  any 
works  of  his  own,  but  according  only  to  God's 
own  purpose  and  the  grace  that  was  given  him  in 
Christ  Jesus  before  times  eternal,  and  has  now 
been  manifested  by  the  epiphany  of  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  in  His  making  naught  of  death,  and 
bringing  to  light  of  life  and  incorruption  through 
the  Gospel. 

Surely  there  is  gathered  together  in  this  great 
exhortation  everything  that  could  be  needed  to  fill 
with  deathless  courage  in  the  behalf  of  the  Gospel 
even  the  most  timid  hearts.  Let  us  try  to  point 
out  one  or  two  of  the  things  that  Paul  does  here, 
calculated  to  enhearten  his  companion. 

First,  we  shall  certainly  take  notice  that  he 
places  beneath  Timothy  the  eternal  arms  of  God 
Almighty.     He  lifts  the  eyes  of  Timothy  from 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  407 

himself  to  God,  and  says  to  him  in  effect,  There, 
there  is  your  strength.  And  observe  the  pains 
Paul  is  at  to  impress  on  Timothy  that  the  relation 
in  which  he  stands  to  this  God,  by  virtue  of  which 
God  becomes  his  strength,  is  not,  in  any  sense, — 
not  in  the  remotest  degree,  not  in  the  smallest 
particular, — dependent  on  Timothy  himself,  or 
anything  that  he  has  done,  is  doing,  or  can  do. 
He  would  withdraw  Timothy  utterly  from  the 
least  infusion  of  dependence  on  self  and  cast  him 
wholly  on  dependence  on  God,  that  he  may 
realize  that  his  weakness  is  not  in  question,  but 
the  whole  strength  of  God  is  behind  him  to  up- 
hold him  and  bear  him  safely  through. 

Therefore  Paul  describes  this  God  on  whose 
power  he  would  throw  Timothy  back  as  one 
"who  saved  us  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling; 
not  according  to  works  of  ours  but  according  to 
His  own  purpose" — where  the  words  "His  own" 
are  thrown  out  with  a  tremendous  energy, — "and 
a  grace  that  was  given  to  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before 
times  eternal," — where  the  words  "was  given," 
not  "was  promised"  or  even  "was  destined  for," 
but  actually  and  finally  and  unequivocally  "was 
given"  us  before  times  eternal,  are  used  with 
equally  tremendous  emphasis,  to  declare  that 
what  has  appeared  in  time  has  been  only  a  mani- 
festation of  what  was  already  done,  concluded,  ac- 
complished in  eternity.  How  could  this  power  of 
God  fail  us  now  because  of  aught  we  can  do,  or 


408  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fail  to  do,  when  its  gift  to  us  is  so  thoroughly  in- 
dependent of  everything  or  anything  that  we  can 
do  ?  Obviously,  what  Paul  is  doing  is  so  completely 
to  take  away  Timothy's  consideration  of  himself  in 
this  whole  matter  of  the  Gospel  that  he  will  trust 
exclusively  in  God  and  feel  that,  therefore,  there 
can  be  no  failure — just  because  it  is  God  alone  and 
not  he  himself  on  whom  the  performance  rests. 

An  appeal  to  the  well-recognized  fact  that  it  was 
thus  and  thus  only  that  Timothy  received  his  call 
from  God,  is  nothing  other,  then,  than  to  cast  him 
back  on  the  Almighty  arms  and  to  make  him 
poignantly  realize  that  it  is  God  and  not  he  who  is 
conceived  as  carrying  through  the  work  so  begun. 
"O  Timothy,"  says  Paul,  in  effect,  "Faint  not! 
It  is  not  your  own  strength — or  rather  weakness — 
that  is  here  in  question;  it  is  the  power  of  Al- 
mighty God.  Do  not  you  remember  how  you 
were  brought  into  relations  with  this  God.^^  Was 
it  of  yourself  that  you  were  called  with  this  holy 
calling?  Nay,  no  works  of  your  own  entered  in. 
It  was  of  His  own  purpose  that  He  called  you;  the 
grace  that  has  come  to  you  was  given  you  from  all 
eternity.  What  has  come  to  you  in  time  is  only 
the  manifestation  of  what  was  eternally  done.  It 
is  this  Almighty  God  who  is  using  you  as  His  in- 
strument and  organ.  Nothmg  depends  on  your 
weakness;  all  hangs  on  His  strength.  Take  cour- 
age and  go  onward."  Thus  Paul  strengthens 
Timothy  for  the  conflict  before  him. 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  409 

But  there  is  another  element  in  Paul's  enheart- 
ening  exhortation  which  we  must  not  fail  to  take 
notice  of  if  we  would  feel  all  the  subtlety  and  force 
of  its  appeal.  Paul  not  only  throws  Timothy 
back  on  the  eternal  arms  of  Almighty  God;  he 
fixes  his  eyes  firmly  also  on  an  eternal  Christ. 
For  not  less  clearly  than  in  the  prologue  to  John's 
Gospel  itself  is  the  pre-incarnate  Son  of  God 
brought  before  us  in  this  great  passage.  So  vivid, 
indeed,  is  the  Apostle's  realization  of  the  great 
transaction  in  eternity;  so  pointed  is  his  repre- 
sentation of  all  that  has  been  wrought  out  in  time 
as  but  the  manifestation  of  what  was  already  pre- 
pared in  eternity;  that  it  would  be  easier  to  read 
him  as  throwing  an  air  of  unreality  over  the  tem- 
poral acts  than  as  treating  the  eternal  ones  as 
merely  ideal. 

The  use  of  the  word  "given,"  the  "grace  given" 
to  us  before  times  eternal,  is  already  a  mark  of  his 
intense  perception  of  the  reality  of  the  eternal 
transaction.  But  this  is  carried  much  further 
by  the  other  terms  emphasized.  This  grace  given 
in  eternity  is  only  "manifested"  in  time;  made 
visible — the  conception  being  that  it  was  already 
in  existence  and  is  only  now  brought  to  sight. 
And  in  like  manner  the  Christ  Jesus  in  whom  the 
grace  was  given  us  before  times  eternal,  can  by  no 
possibility  be  conceived  as  existing  only  ideally  in 
this  eternity,  as  if  the  notion  were  only  that  in 
foresight  of  Him  and  His  work,  the  gift  of  grace 


410  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

was  determined  upon  and  so  His  historical  life  on 
earth  was  the  logical  prius  and  this  eternal  trans- 
action rested  on  it  in  prevision  and  provision.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  His  eternal  existence  that  is  the 
actual  reality  and  His  historical  manifestation  is 
described  as  an  "epiphany" — a  term  which  dis- 
tinctly describes  a  glorious  apparition  of  what 
already  exists  and  now  only  breaks  forth  to  the 
illumination  of  the  world.  As  such  it  is  elsewhere 
confined  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  and  when  here  applied  to  His 
first  coming  as  fully  implies  as  in  the  parallel  case 
that  He  who  is  thus  manifested  exists  and  has 
existed  beforehand  gloriously,  and  now  only 
bursts  on  Man's  astonished  sight  like  the  breaking 
forth  of  the  sun  from  thick  clouds.  The  grace 
that  was  given  us  before  all  eternity,  was  given  us 
in  that  eternity  in  Christ  Jesus,  as  the  then  present 
mediator  of  grace;  and  as  the  grace  then  given  has 
only  been  "manifested"  in  time,  so  the  Christ 
Jesus  in  whom  it  was  then  given  has  only  "ap- 
peared" in  time.  So  clear  and  vital  is  Paul's  re- 
alization of  the  eternal  transaction  in  a  word,  that 
the  danger  would  be  not  that  we  should  read  him 
as  speaking  of  only  an  ideal  eternal  pre-existence 
of  His  and  our  Lord,  but  rather,  as  giving  too  little 
significance  to  the  outworking  of  the  eternal  plan 
in  the  actual  historical  realization. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  this  very  complete 
doctrine   of   the   eternal   pre-existence   of   Jesus 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  411 

Christ  in  this  epistle,  for  theological  reasons,  and 
more  particularly,  for  biblical-theological  reasons. 
Our  interest  in  it  now,  however,  turns  on  the  use 
which  Paul  makes  of  it  for  the  enheartening  of 
Timothy.  By  fixing  his  eyes  thus  on  the  eternal 
Jesus  and  subtly  suggesting  that  the  events  of 
time  are  (in  a  sense)  but  the  shadows  of  the  eter- 
nal realities;  that  the  salvation  wrought  out  on 
Calvary  was  but  a  corollary  (so  to  speak)  of  the 
determining  transaction  in  heaven;  the  Apostle 
leads  his  pupil  to  attach  less  importance  to  the 
course  of  affairs  on  earth  in  comparison  with  the 
eternal  things  thus  vividly  pictured  before  his 
eyes.  The  fashion  of  the  earth  passes  away;  the 
heavenly  alone  abides.  This  eternal  Jesus — ^may 
He  not  be  relied  on  quite  independently  of  the 
temporary  appearances  of  the  things  of  earth  .'^ 
For  how  many  ages  did  He  abide  above — before 
He  was  manifested  as  Saviour!  He  may  have 
removed  again  into  the  glory  He  had  with  the 
Father  before  the  world  was.  But  is  He,  there- 
fore, non-existent — unable  to  help?  We  have 
seen  his  epiphany  once,  when  He  burst  from  the 
skies  bringing  salvation.  Shall  we  not  see  it 
again  .'^  Sufferings  meanwhile  may  come — ^per- 
secutions, trials — above  what  flesh  is  capable  of 
enduring.  But  as  the  grace  of  God  has  appeared 
already  bringing  salvation,  shall  we  not  be  sure 
that,  in  due  season,  there  shall  be  another  epiph- 
any of  our  great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ? 


412  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Perhaps  it  is  too  much  to  say  that  the  exhorta- 
tion of  Paul  bids  Timothy  to  look  forward  to  this 
second  epiphany.  But  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  use  of  the  word  here,  consecrated 
elsewhere  to  our  Lord's  second  coming,  and  the 
whole  cast  of  the  passage,  can  scarcely  have  failed 
to  suggest  by  analogy  this  second  coming  to  Tim- 
othy. And  if  so,  the  remembrance  of  it  would 
add  to  the  force  of  the  exhortation  to  endurance. 
In  any  case,  this  vision  of  the  eternal  Christ  forms 
a  substantial  element  in  Paul's  great  exhortation. 

There  is,  however,  a  third  element  in  it  that  we 
must  be  sure  that  we  perceive  before  we  can  say 
that  we  have  appreciated  its  whole  force;  it  fills 
Timothy's  heart  with  the  sense  of  an  eternal  sal- 
vation. We  have  seen  that  it  points  him  back  into 
eternity  for  the  inception  of  this  salvation.  There, 
we  will  not  say  merely  it  was  prepared  for,  pro- 
vided for;  it  was  rather,  prepared,  provided. 
Before  times  eternal  there  was  a  purpose  of  God — 
His  own  sovereign  purpose,  independent  of  all 
works  of  man — in  accordance  with  which  we  have 
in  time  been  called.  But  there  was  also  more — 
even  a  grace  that  had  been  given  to  us  already  in 
Christ  Jesus,  our  eternal  Lord.  And  it  is  in 
accordance  with  this  grace  also  that  we  have 
been  called  with  a  holy  calling  and  saved;  in 
accordance  with  this  grace,  existent  eternally,  and 
only  manifested  in  time,  when  Jesus  burst  on  the 
astonished  view  of  man  and  abolished  death  and 


THE  ETERNAL  GOSPEL  413 

brought  to  light  Hfe  and  immortality.  This  salva- 
tion, thus  manifested,  therefore,  is  an  eternal 
salvation.  There  was  no  time  when  it  was  not. 
Can  there  be  any  time  when  it  shall  cease  to  be? 

What  we  must,  above  all,  however,  see  to  it  that 
we  do  is  to  focus  our  eyes  on  what  this  eternal 
salvation  thus  manifested  in  time  consists  in.  It 
consists  in  just  the  abolishment  of  death  and  the 
bringing  to  light  of  life  and  immortality.  Ah, 
this  death  that  Timothy  may  have  been  in  danger 
of  fearing — that  is  the  real  shadow.  This  salva- 
tion— so  long  hidden  in  the  heavens — that  is  the 
reality.  It  may  again  seem  to  be  hidden  in  the 
heavens;  death — does  it  not  loom  before  him  as  a 
hideous  threat  of  the  immediate  future.^^  Nay, 
the  eternal  salvation,  revealed  in  Christ  Jesus,  is 
revealed  in  this  very  act — that  He  has  abolished 
death  and  brought  Hfe  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  Gospel.  Surely  if  Paul  can  quicken 
and  give  life  and  force  to  this  conception  in  Tim- 
othy's mind  and  heart,  his  encouragement  of  him 
to  face  persecution  and  death  with  him  for  the 
Gospel's  sake  is  complete.  Then,  this  threatened 
death  is  naught;  the  Saviour  has  abolished  death 
and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light. 

In  essence,  shall  we  not  say,  then,  that  this 
appeal  finds  its  deepest  root  in  the  assurance  of  a 
blessed  immortality.^  That  it  unveils  the  life 
beyond  the  tomb.^  And  puts  the  heart  into  us 
that  was  in  Paul  when  he  declared  that  he  viewed 


414  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

with  unconcern  the  wearing  away  of  this  earthly 
house  because  he  knew  he  had  a  building  of  God, 
a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens?  It  is  because  the  salvation  brought 
thus  to  Timothy  is  not  only  eternal  in  its  incep- 
tion but  eternal  in  its  endurance,  that  the  appeal 
has  such  force.  Paul  is  seeking  to  fill  the  heart 
and  mind  of  his  follower  with  the  realization  of  an 
eternal  salvation,  and  so  to  lead  him  to  courage  in 
facing  temporal  trials.  Is  it  not  our  wisdom  to 
apply  his  words  to  ourselves.^  Shall  we,  too,  not 
endure  as  seeing  the  invisible? 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST 

2  Tim.  i2:l  1-13:— "Faithful  is  the  saying:  For  if  we  died  with 
Him,  we  shall  also  live  with  him :  if  we  endure  we  shall  also  reign 
with  him:  if  we  shall  deny  him,  he  also  will  deny  us;  if  we  are  faith- 
less, he  abideth  faithful;   for  he  cannot  deny  himself." 

The  words  which  are  before  us  this  afternoon 
form  one  of  those  "faithful  sayings"  taken  up  by 
Paul  from  the  mouth  of  the  Christian  community 
and  given  fresh  significance  and  force  by  his  em- 
ployment of  them  to  wing  his  own  appeals  and 
point  his  own  arguments  to  his  fellow  Christians. 
It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  observe  the  Apostle 
thus  acting  as  a  member  of  a  settled  community 
with  its  own  standards  of  belief  and  maxims  of 
conduct  already  to  a  certain  degree  established; 
and  none  the  less  so  that  he  was  himself  the 
foimder  of  the  community,  who  had  impressed  on 
it  the  faith  to  which  it  was  now  giving  expression. 
The  special  *' faithful  saying"  he  now  adduces 
bears  in  it  traits  which  point  back  to  his  teaching 
as  the  germ  from  which  it  had  grown,  but  also  to 
the  teaching  of  our  Lord  Himself,  a  witness  to  the 
wide  diffusion  of  which  in  the  churches  it  thus  sup- 
plies. If  the  phrase,  "If  we  died  with  him  we 
shall  also  live  with  him"  is  Pauline  to  the  core  and 
takes  the  mind  of  the  reader  irresistibly  back  to 
such  a  passage  as  Romans  6:8;  and  the  next  suc- 

415 


416  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ceeding  phrase,  "If  we  endure  we  shall  also  reign 
with  him, "  reminds  us  more  remotely  of  such  pas- 
sages as  Rom.  5:17;  8:17;  the  clause  which  fol- 
lows that,  "If  we  deny  him,  he,  too,  will  deny  us," 
cannot  fail  to  remind  us  of  Matt.  10:33,  or  rather, 
of  the  saying  of  Jesus  there  formally  recorded. 

How  this  "faithful  saying"  had  been  formed 
in  the  church,  whether  merely  as  a  detached 
gnome,  or  maxim,  which  Christians  were  wont  to 
repeat  to  one  another  for  their  enheartening  and 
encouragement;  or,  as  a  portion  of  some  htur- 
gical  form  often  used  in  the  church  service,  until 
its  language  had  become  fixed;  or  as  a  passage 
from  a  hymn  that  had  grown  popular,  as  its 
rhythmic  form  may  perhaps  suggest,  it  may  be 
difficult  or  impossible  to  decide.  The  way  in 
which  the  Apostle  adduces  it  appears  in  any  event 
to  bear  witness  that  the  words  were  a  current 
formula  in  the  church,  to  which  he  could  appeal  as 
such,  and  which  would,  from  their  familiarity  and 
devout,  if  not  sacred,  association,  appeal  power- 
fully to  Timothy's  heart.  Perhaps  we  may  ven- 
ture to  say  that  the  Apostle  himself  felt  the  appeal 
of  these  devout  associations,  and  employs  the 
"saying"  precisely  because  it  had  become  by  use 
the  natural  expression  of  his  own  strong  feelings, 
at  the  moment  aroused  to  a  particular  fervour.  He, 
the  great  Apostle,  yet  leans  with  comfort  on  the 
church's  own  expression  of  its  faith.  What  a  tes- 
timony w   have  here  to  the  solidarity  of  the  church 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  417 

of  God;   or,  as  we  prefer  to  put  it,  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  saints.     And  what  an  enforcement 
of  the  great  commands  that  we  bear  one  another's 
burdens,  that  we  neglect  not  the  assembhng  of  our- 
selves together,  that  we  do  not  indulge  the  vanity 
of  living  each  one  to  himself.     The  Church  is  ever 
to  Paul,  the  inspired  teacher  of  the  Church,  in  a 
deep  and  true  sense,  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the 
truth,  on  the  testimony  of  which  he  gladly  rests. 
The  purpose  for  which  he  adduces  this  partic- 
ular "faithful  saying"  is  to  clinch  his  appeal  to 
Timothy  to  steadfast  adherence  to  his  high  duty 
and    privilege   of   teaching   the    Gospel,    despite 
every  difficulty  and  danger  besetting  the  pathway. 
He  appears  in  this  context  to  be  urging  three  mo- 
tives upon  Timothy  to  induce  him  to  face  bravely 
the  hardships  of  the  service  he  is  pressing  upon 
him.     He  points  him  first  to  the  source  of  his 
strength:   "Remember  Jesus  Christ  as  risen  from 
the  dead,  of  the  seed  of  David";   keep  your  eyes 
set  on  the  heavenly  majesty  of  the  exalted  Christ, 
our  King.     Surely  he  who  keeps  vivid  in  his  con- 
sciousness that  He  with  whonx  he  has  to  do  is  the 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  who,  though  He  had 
died,  yet  lived  again,  and  is  set  on  the  throne  of 
universal  dominion,  should  have  no  fear  in  boldly 
obeying  his  behests.     Paul  points  Timothy  next 
to    the    important    function    performed    by    the 
preacher  of  the  Gospel,  faithfulness  in  proclaim- 
ing which  he  is  urging  upon  him  as  so  prime  a 


418  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

duty  that  no  danger  must  be  allowed  to  intermit 
it.  It  is  by  it  that  the  elect  of  God  attain  the  sal- 
vation destined  for  them  in  Christ  Jesus.  Who 
will  draw  back  when  he  realizes  that  he  is  a  fellow- 
worker  with  God  in  bringing  to  their  salvation 
God's  own  elect — those  elect  whom  God  has  loved 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  for  whom  He 
has  given  His  Son  to  shame  and  death,  and  sent 
His  Spirit  into  the  foulness  of  men's  hearts? 
Surely  he  who  apprehends  that  it  is  laid  on  him  to 
carry  this  salvation  to  those  whose  own  it  is  will 
never  weary  in  conveying  it  to  them.  Let  us 
learn  how  a  brute  beast  may  respond  to  an  appeal 
to  share  in  such  a  service  of  good  by  reading 
Browning's  "How  they  brought  the  good  news  to 
Ghent."  Shall  we  be  less  responsive  to  such 
appeals  than  even  the  brutes?  Lastly  Paul  plies 
Timothy  with  this  "faithful  saying,"  the  force  of 
whose  appeal  lies  in  its  subtle  blending  of  encour- 
agement and  warning:  encouragement  because 
it  tells  us  what  a  glorious  prospect  lies  before  him 
who  gives  himself  to  Christ  unreservedly  here; 
warning  because  it  discloses  to  us  the  dreadfulness 
of  the  award  that  lies  before  him  who  is  unfaith- 
ful here  to  the  service  he  owes  his  Lord. 

"If  we  died  with  him,  we  shall  also  live  with 
him;  if  we  steadfastly  endure  we  shall  also  reign 
with  him,"  but  also,  "if  we  shall  perchance  deny 
him,  he  will  also  deny  us";  though  of  one  thing  we 
may  be  firmly  assured,  "though  we  prove  faith- 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  419 

less,  He  abideth  ever  faithful,  for  He  cannot  deny 
Himself."  Was  ever  warning  and  encourage- 
ment so  subtly  blended  in  a  single  composite  ap- 
peal? So  subtly  indeed  that  one  remains  in 
doubt  whether  the  appeal  comes  to  its  close  on  a 
note  of  hope  or  on  one  of  despair.  Is  it  that  God 
will  remain  faithful  to  His  gracious  purposes  of 
love  despite  our  weakness;  that,  though  we  prove 
untrustworthy,  yet  He  abides  ever  trusty — is  it 
on  this  note  of  high  hope  and  encouragement 
that  the  Apostle's  great  song  sinks  down  to  rest.^^ 
Or  is  it  rather,  that  the  God  who  has  threatened 
to  deny  those  that  deny  Him,  will  abide  ever 
faithful  to  this  dreadful  threat,  so  that  he  who  dis- 
owns Him  here  need  cherish  no  hope  that  he  shall 
escape  the  announced  disavowal  there— is  it  on 
this  note  of  profoundest  warning  that  the  Apostle 
pauses?  The  language  is  flexible  to  either  sense; 
the  context  leaves  the  way  open  to  either;  the 
appeal  would  be  alike  strong  under  either  inter- 
pretation; but  it  is  strongest  of  all,  doubtless, 
under  the  subtle  blending  of  the  two,  to  which 
the  phrasing  of  the  whole  "faithful  saying"  seems 
to  invite  us. 

For  this  "faithful  saying"  has  the  characteristic 
pregnancy  and  subtlety  of  all  its  fellows,  which  is 
the  hall-mark  of  all  true  popular  sayings  that  have 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  until  they  have 
been  compacted  into  the  thought  of  a  whole  com- 
munity.    For  its  interpretation  we  should  con- 


420  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fine  ourselves  primarily  to  its  own  narrow  com- 
pass and  remember  that  the  context  in  which  it 
comes  to  us  is  not  its  own  original  context,  and 
can  help  us  to  its  interpretation  only  so  far  as  the 
propriety  of  its  adduction  here  is  concerned.  So 
looking  at  it,  it  is  clear  that  much  of  the  current 
exposition  of  its  clauses  falls  away  of  itself.  For 
example,  it  seems  obvious  that  the  "dying  with 
Christ"  here  adduced  is  not  physical  dying  with 
Christ,  martyrdom,  but  forensic  dying  with 
Christ,  justification.  It  is  clear  that  our  frag- 
ment is  a  fragment  of  a  piece  in  which  the  main 
theme  is  Christ's  work  of  redemption.  It  is  es- 
pecially clear  that  we  have  no  right  to  supply 
"with  Christ"  with  the  second  clause.  It  is  not 
endurance  "with  Christ,"  but  "steadfast  endur- 
ance to  the  end"  alone  that  is  intended,  and  the 
conjunctive  preposition  is  left  off  of  this  verb  just 
to  advise  us  of  that.  Nor  may  we  omit  to  note 
and  give  effect  to  the  changes  of  tense:  first  the 
aorist,  then  the  present,  then  the  future,  then  the 
present  again;  all  of  which  changes  are  significant. 
Lastly,  a  careful  observation  of  the  consecution 
of  the  clauses  will  certainly  bid  us  pause  before  we 
fall  in  with  their  division  into  two  pairs,  the  first 
encouraging,  the  last  warning;  a  division  far  too 
simple  to  do  justice  to  the  subtlety  of  the  whole 
thought,  or  even  the  surface  considerations  de- 
rived from  the  sequence  of  the  tenses  and  verbs. 
Let  us  look  at  the  saying  then  a  moment  in  its 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  421 

own  light  and  then  ask  how  it  lends  itself  to  Paul's 
purpose  in  adducing  it  here. 

We  perceive  at  once  that  the  passage  consists 
of  four  conditional  sentences  which  stand,  there- 
fore, in  a  certain  formal  parallelism  with  one  an- 
other.    The  first  of  these  sentences  declares  that 
sharing    in    Christ's    death    entails    sharing    in 
Christ's  life.     The  idea  is  a  frequent  one  in  the 
New  Testament  and  must,  indeed,  in  all  Pauline 
churches  at  any  rate,  have  become  long  ere  this  a 
Christian  commonplace.     The  language  in  which 
it  is  expressed  is  the  same  as  that  which  meets  us 
in  Rom.  6:8,  and  stands  in  express  relation  with 
that  of,  say,  2  Cor.  5:14f.     It  would  be  most  un- 
natural violently  to  separate  the  statement  here 
from  the  ordinary  connotation  of  the  language. 
This  is  reinforced  by  the    fact    that    the  aorist 
tense  is  employed,  and  thus  a  dying  with  Christ 
already  accomplished  by  every  Christian  who  took 
this  language  on  his  lips,  most  naturally  suggested. 
It  is  most  unnatural,  therefore,  to  understand  here 
a  dying  with  Christ  not  yet  accomplished,  per- 
haps never  to  be  accomplished;   the  language  im- 
plies rather  a  dying  which  has  been  the  invariable 
experience  of  every  Christian  heart.     Are  we  to 
say  that  the  passage  teaches  that  only  if  we  share 
in  Christ's  death  in  the  sense  that  we  like  Him  die 
for  the  Gospel,  are  we  to  share  in  his  life.?     Or,  are 
we  to  say  that  the  meaning  is  rather  that  every 
faithful  Christian  that  dies  shall  live  again?     The 


422  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

latter  is  too  flat  a  sense  to  be  attributed  to  our 
passage;  the  former,  obviously  too  narrow.  The 
reference  is  neither  to  martyrdom,  not  yet  merely 
to  a  Christian  death.  The  death  here  is  obviously 
ethical  or  rather,  spiritual,  and  yet  not  quite  in 
the  exact  sense  of  Rom.  6 :8,  but  more  in  that  of 
2  Cor.  5 :14.  The  simple  meaning  obviously  is  that 
he  who  is  united  with  Christ  in  His  death  shall 
share  with  Him  His  life  also;  that  all  those  "in 
Christ  Jesus"  as  they  died  with  Him  on  Calvary, 
as  that  death  which  He  there  died,  since  it  was  for 
them,  was  their  death  in  Him,  so  shall  share  with 
Him  in  His  resurrection  life,  shall  live  in  and 
through  Him. 

The  appeal  is  clearly  to  the  Christian's  union 
with  Christ  and  its  abiding  effects.  He  is  a  new 
creation;  with  a  new  life  in  him;  and  should  live 
in  the  power  of  this  new  and  deathless  life.  For 
there  is  a  stress  laid  also  on  the  persistence  of  this 
life  and  a  pointing  of  the  reader  to  the  deathless- 
ness  of  the  life  in  Christ.  Know  ye  not,  says  the 
Apostle  in  effect,  that  if  ye  died  with  Christ  ye 
shall  also  live  with  Him,  and  that  the  life  ye  are 
living  in  the  flesh  ye  live  by  the  power  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  it  shall  last  for  ever.?  The  pregnancy 
of  the  implication  is  extreme,  but  it  is  all  in- 
volved in  the  one  fact  that  if  we  died  with  Christ, 
if  we  are  His  and  share  His  death  on  Calvary,  we 
shall  live  with  Him ;  live  with  Him  in  a  redeemed 
life  here,  cast  in  another  mould  from  the  old  life 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  423 

of  the  flesh,  and  Hve  with  Him  hereafter  for  ever. 
This  great  appeal  to  their  union  and  communion 
with  Christ  lays  the  basis  for  all  that  follows.  It 
puts  the  reader  on  the  plane — sets  him  at  the 
point  of  view — of  "in  Christ  Jesus." 

Now,  the  second  and  third  clauses  present  the 
contrasting  possibilities,  emerging  from  the  situa- 
tion presented  in  the  first  clause,  and  belong  as 
such  together,  as  positive  and  negative  state- 
ments. He  who  is  in  Christ  may  by  patient  con- 
tinuance in  well-doing  abide  in  union  with  his 
Lord,  and  he  shall  not  fail  of  his  reward.  The 
metaphysical  possibility  remains  open,  however, 
that  he  may  deny  his  Lord,  in  which  case,  he  shall, 
himself,  in  accordance  with  our  Lord's  own  ex- 
press threat,  be  denied  by  Him.  Observe  the 
precise  justice  of  the  contrasting  expressions  em- 
ployed in  these  alternatives.  The  tense  changes 
first  from  the  aorist  to  the  present,  because  not 
tJie  act  of  incorporation  in  Christ,  but  the  process 
of  steadfast  endurance,  is  in  question.  The  verbs 
in  the  apodosis  are  also  varied  to  meet  the  exact 
case;  we  begin  as  sharers  in  Christ's  life;  if  we 
continue  steadfastly  in  that  life  we  shall  share  in 
its  glories.  The  thought  is  precisely  that  of  Rom. 
8:16,  17;  if  we  are  God's  children,  we  are  heirs, 
joint  heirs  with  Christ,  "if  so  be  that  we  suffer 
with  Him,  that  we  may  be  glorified  with  Him 
also."  Only  in  our  present  passage  the  matter  is 
not  conceived  so  distinctly  as  suffering  or  as  suffer- 


424  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ing  with  Christ;  in  preparation  for  the  companion 
clause  yet  to  come  the  idea  of  "with  Christ"  falls 
away  here.  The  two  cases  rest  with  us — abiding 
steadfastly  or  disowning.  The  "reigning  with 
Christ"  is  an  advance  on  "living  with  Christ";  it 
throws  the  emphasis  on  the  reward:  if  we  have 
died  with  Him  we  are  sharers  of  His  life;  if  we 
abide  in  this  life  we  shall  inherit  with  Him  the 
Kingdom. 

The  companion  clause  presents  the  other  pos- 
sibility. The  "deny"  corresponds  to  "the  stead- 
fast endurance"  and  Christ's  disowning  us  cor- 
responds to  the  "reigning  with  Him";  both  as 
opposite  contrasts.  The  tense  is  changed  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  new  nature  of  the  case.  It  is 
not  a  matter  of  continually  disowning  Him;  it  is 
a  matter  of  breaking  the  continuance  of  our  stead- 
fast endurance.  This  is  done  by  an  act.  Hence 
the  future,  expressing  the  possibility  of  the  act: 
"should  we  disown  Him," — if  we  shall  disown 
Him,  why  then,  He  (emphatic),  also  will  disown 
us!  This  is  the  dreadful  contingency;  all  the  more 
dreadful  on  account  of  three  things:  (1)  the  sim- 
ple brevity  of  its  statement  as  a  dire  possibility  to 
be  kept  in  mind  and  steadfastly  guarded  against; 
(2)  the  express  reminiscence  of  our  Lord's  own 
words  in  Matt.  10:33  carrying  the  mind  back  to 
the  most  solemn  of  associations  possible  to  con- 
nect with  the  words;  (3)  the  emphatic  "He," 
thrusting  the  personality  of  Christ  for  the  first 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  425 

time  upon  the  consciousness  of  the  reader;  as  be- 
fore, He  is  only  gently  kept  in  mind  by  the  impli- 
cations of  the  "with."  This  emphatic  "He"  is 
partly  due,  of  course,  to  the  change  of  construc- 
tion, by  which  a  new  subject  is  needed  for  the  suc- 
ceeding verb;  though  it  would  be,  perhaps,  better 
to  say  the  desire  for  emphasis  is  the  cause  of  the 
change  of  construction.  We  might  have  had  a 
passive  verb,  "If  we  deny  we  shall  be  denied," 
with  or  without  the  "by  Him."  But  the  person- 
ality of  Christ  is  too  strongly  felt  here  for  mere 
suggestion  or  even  for  relegation  to  the  predicate. 
The  change  to  the  active  construction  and  the 
expression  of  the  subject  and  its  expression  by  the 
demonstrative  "He,"  all  pile  emphasis  on  em- 
phasis; "If  we  disown,  HE,  too  (not  merely  He, 
but  HE,  too),  will  disown  us!"  This  is  the  climax 
of  the  sentence  and  a  fitting  pause  is  reached. 
"If  we  died  with  Him  we  shall  also  live  with  him; 
if  we  steadfastly  endure  we  shall  also  reign  with 
him;  but  if  we  shall  ever,  by  any  possibility,  deny 
Him,  He,  too,  will  deny — us!"  The  thought  is 
complete  with  this.  Both  alternatives  are  devel- 
oped. And  the  effect  of  the  whole  is  a  powerful 
incentive  to  abide  in  Christ.  Patient  endurance — 
nay,  bold,  steadfast,  brave  endurance — ^has  its 
reward — reigning  with  Christ.  But  if  we  fall 
from  this  and  disown  Christ,  do  we  not  remember 
His  dreadful  threat:  "He,  too,  can  and  will  dis- 
own— even  us!" 


426  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Surely  there  is  nothing  required  to  enhance  the 
terror  of  this  situation.  The  poignancy  of  the 
appeal  to  steadfast  endurance  seems  scarcely  to 
need  heightening.  But  on  the  other  hand  there 
would  seem  need  for  a  closing  word  of  encourage- 
ment to  weak  and  faltering  Christians.  And  there 
would  seem  a  way  open  for  it.  For  the  very  sharp- 
ness of  the  assertion  that  if  there  is  disowning  on 
one  side  there  will  be  disowning  on  the  other,  too, 
seems  to  hint  something  else.  The  contrast  be- 
tween the  present  tense  of  the  second  clause  ex- 
pressing continuance  and  the  tense  of  the  third 
clause  expressing  an  act,  calls  for  consideration: 
"If  we  continue  to — ,"  "If  we  shall  perchance 
ever — ."  Nothing  is  said  of  the  continuance  of 
the  disowning  on  either  side.  Disowning  begets 
disowning.  True;  but  is  that  all.^^  Shall  one  act 
of  even  such  dreadful  sin  divide  us  from  all  that 
we  had  hoped  for,  in  a  long  life  of  endurance  .^^ 
What  shall  poor  weak,  faltering  Christians  do  in 
that  case?  It  does  not  seem  impossible,  to  say 
the  least,  that  the  last  clause  comes  in  to  comfort 
and  strengthen.  There  is  hope  even  for  the 
lapsed  Christian!  For  "though  we  prove  faith- 
less, He  (emphatic),  HE,  at  least,  abides  faithful: 
for  deny  Himself  He  cannot!"  Deny  us  He  may 
and  will;  every  denial  entails  a  denial.  But 
deny  Himself,  He  cannot.  Our  unbelief  shall 
not  render  the  faith  of  God  of  none  effect. 

If  this  be  the  construction,  the  whole  closes  on  a 


COMMUNION  WITH  CHRIST  427 

note  of  hope.  The  note  of  warning  throbs  through 
even  the  note  of  hope,  it  is  true,  for  He  who  can- 
not deny  Himself  must  remember  His  threats 
also;  and  no  Christian  holding  this  wonderful 
"faithful  saying"  in  his  heart  will  fail  to  note  this. 
But  the  note  of  hope  is  the  dominant  one,  and  I 
take  it  this  last  clause  is  designed  to  call  back  the 
soul  from  the  contemplation  of  the  dreadfulness  of 
denying  Christ  and  throw  it  in  trust  and  hope 
back  upon  Jesus  Christ,  the  faithful  One,  who 
despite  our  unfaithfulness,  will  never  deny  Him- 
self— will  never  disown  Himself, — ^but  will  ever 
look  on  His  own  cross  and  righteousness  and  all 
the  bitter  dole  He  has  suffered,  and  will  not  let 
anything  snatch  what  He  has  purchased  to  Him- 
self out  of  His  hands. 

In  this  view  of  the  matter,  then,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  clauses  is  not  in  a  straightforward 
quartet — ^two  by  two — but  rather  this: 

If  we  died  with  Him  we  shall  also  live  with  Him; 

If  we  endure  we  shall  also  reign  with  Him; 

If  we  shall  deny,  He  too  will  deny  us. 
If  we  are  faithless.  He  abideth  faithful,  for  Himself  He  camiot 
deny. 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE 

James  5:16b: — "The  supplication  of   a  righteous   man  availeth 
much." 

I  WANT  to  speak  to  you  this  afternoon  about 
prayer,  and  I  have  chosen  a  text  which,  if  we  can- 
not quite  say  of  it  that  it  brings  prayer  before  us 
at  the  height  of  its  idea,  yet,  certainly,  presents  its 
value  to  us  in  the  most  emphatic  way. 

Men  ask,  What  is  the  use  of  praying?  Above 
all,  What  is  the  use  of  bringing  specific  petitions 
to  the  throne  of  the  Almighty?  "To  crave  boons 
you  know  little  of,  from  a  God  of  whom  you  know 
nothing  at  all,  save  that  you  have  made  him  in 
your  own  image — of  what  profit  can  that  be?" 
That  is  the  language  of  unbelief. 

Much,  however,  which  passes  for  belief  asks 
practically  the  same  thing  in  somewhat  more 
chastened  forms  of  speech.  This  half  belief  also 
asks.  What  is  the  use  of  praying?  We  must  have 
a  very  low  conception  of  God,  it  suggests,  to  sup- 
pose that  He  does  not  know  how  to  govern  His 
universe  without  our  telling  Him.  Do  we  really 
think  He  will  subordinate  His  wisdom  to  the  de- 
mands of  our  folly?  Cannot  we  leave  the  direc- 
tion of  affairs  to  Him?  If  He  be,  indeed,  a  good 
and  wise  God,  must  we  not  leave  it  to  Him?  Why 
rush  hysterically  into  His  presence  and  demand 

428 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  429 

that  the  universe  be  ruled  according  to  our  no- 
tions? Are  we  competent  to  give  Him  advice? 
Do  we  fancy  that  we  know  what  is  best  even  for 
ourselves,  as  He  does  not?  He  cannot  hear  us 
unless  He  be  God;  He  certainly  ought  not  to 
hearken  to  us  if  He  be  God.  If  He  is  "mighty 
enough  to  make  laws,"  why  should  we  think  Him 
"weak  enough  to  break  them"  at  our  request? 
Prayer  is  in  effect  an  attempt  to  undeify  the 
Deity  and  substitute  our  will  for  His  will.  It  is 
not  only  foolish  and  immoral,  therefore,  but  su- 
premely self-contradictory.  We  cannot  attempt 
it  save  on  the  supposition  that  it  is  God  whom  we 
are  addressing;  we  would  not  attempt  it  if  we 
really  believed  that  He  whom  we  are  addressing  is 
God.  Of  one  thing,  at  least,  we  may  be  assured, 
that  it  is  of  no  use  to  pray. 

Well,  you  see,  it  is  precisely  to  this  point  that 
our  text  speaks.  It  speaks  not  of  prayer  in  gen- 
eral, but  of  the  specific  act  of  petition.  "Suppli- 
cation," our  Revised  Version  calls  it.  It  is  that 
precise  act  of  prayer  which  is  the  making  of  a  re- 
quest, the  urging  of  a  desire,  the  preferring  of  a 
petition.  And  what  it  says  about  it  is  that  so 
far  from  its  being  of  no  use,  it  is  of  very  great  use. 
"The  prayer," — or  more  specifically,  the  "peti- 
tion," the  "request,"  the  " supphcation " — "of  a 
righteous  man  availeth  much,"  "is  of  great  value," 
"exerts  great  power."  There  is  another  word  in 
the  sentence,  but  as  it  is  of  somewhat  doubtful 


430  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

interpretation  and  in  no  way  qualifies  the  sense  of 
the  declaration  for  our  present  purpose,  we  may 
pass  it  by  here.  It  is  variously  rendered  as  quali- 
fying the  prayer  of  the  righteous  man  that  availeth 
further  as  "earnest";  or  as  indicating  the  source 
from  which  such  a  prayer  alone  can  come,  by 
affirming  that  it  is  "inwrought"  in  him,  that  is, 
by  the  Holy  Ghost;  or  as  further  describing  the 
value  of  it  as  avaihng  "in  its  working."  It  is 
obvious  that  whether  we  say  "the  fervent  prayer 
of  the  righteous  man  availeth  much,"  or  "the 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much,  seeing 
that  it  is  inwrought,"  or  "the  prayer  of  a  righteous 
man  availeth  much  in  its  working,"  the  one  main 
thing  asserted  in  every  case  is  that  a  righteous 
man's  prayer  is  of  high  value;  that  it  is  strong  to 
obtain  its  end;  that  it  is  fully  worth  offering  up. 
And  this  emphatic  assertion  is  buttressed  im- 
mensely by  its  context.  The  assertion  is  made  in 
order  to  encourage  the  readers  to  pray  for  one 
another,  and  for  themselves.  To  pray  for  one 
another  when  they  are  sick;  to  pray  for  one 
another  when  they  are  soul-sick.  If  any  is 
sick  among  you,  exhorts  James,  send  for  the  elders 
of  the  Church  and  have  them  pray  over  such  an 
one;  and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  heal  the  sick; 
yes,  and  if  he  have  any  sin  on  his  conscience,  it 
will  heal  that  sin.  And  all  of  you — why,  confess 
your  sins  to  one  another — and  pray  for  one  an- 
other, and  the  prayer  will  bring  healing.     Take 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  431 

everything  to  God.  If  you  are  suffering  go  in 
prayer;  if  you  are  in  joy  go  in  praise.  But  in  any 
and  every  case,  go.  It  is  strong  and  reiterated 
advice,  you  see.  Go  continually,  go  always,  to 
God.  Go,  go,  because  prayer  is  not  of  no  profit; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  "prayer  of  a  righteous 
man  profiteth  much!"  And  then  James  supports 
this  central  declaration  with  a  most  telling  exam- 
ple. It  is  taken  from  the  Hfe  of  Elijah.  Elijah 
prayed.  He  was  a  man  just  like  us.  And  he  got 
what  he  prayed  for.  And  it  was  no  little  thing 
he  asked  for.  He  asked  for  drought  and  he  asked 
for  rain.  And  he  got  the  drought  and  the  rain 
he  asked  for.  See,  says  James  in  effect,  see,  how 
much  the  prayer  of  a  righteous  man  is  good  for! 

It  looks  as  if  we  could  not  easily  find  a  stronger 
assertion  of  the  value  of  prayer;  and  of  prayer  at 
the  very  apex  of  its  difficulty  as  I  have  said; 
prayer,  specifically  as  petition.  But  I  do  not  wish 
this  afternoon  to  confine  our  thoughts  to  this  one 
point-  the  value  of  petition,  but  to  take  encour- 
agement from  this  emphatic  assertion  of  the  value 
of  prayer,  and  direct  our  minds  to  a  general  con- 
sideration of  prayer  in  the  large. 

First,  then,  the  idea  of  prayer.  In  its  most 
general  connotation,  prayer  is  the  Godward  ex- 
pression of  subjective  religion.  Subjective  religion 
is  the  state  of  mind  consequent  on  the  apprehen- 
sion of  God.  Prayer  is,  therefore,  in  its  most  gen- 
eral sense  the  Godward  expression  of  that  state  of 


432  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

mind  which  is  consequent  on  the  apprehension  of 
God.  In  short,  all  conscious  communion  with 
God  is  prayer.  A  great  many  elements,  there- 
fore, enter  into  prayer.  It  is  not  to  be  confined  to 
petition.  Every  form  of  expression  of  the  soul 
Godward  is  a  form  of  prayer.  Many  terms, 
therefore,  are  employed  in  the  Scriptures,  He- 
brew and  Greek  alike,  to  give  expression  to  the 
various  forms  and  modes  of  praying.  In  some 
passages  several  of  these  are  accumulated  and 
that  with  full  consciousness  of  the  variety  of 
mental  state  and  action  expressed  by  them. 
One  of  the  most  formal  of  these  summations 
occurs  at  the  opening  of  the  second  chapter  of 
First  Timothy.  Here  four  terms  are  gathered 
together  to  give  more  adequate  expression  to 
what  Paul  would  have  us  do  when  we  pray;  four 
terms  which  emphasize  the  mental  movements 
we  call  respectively  adoration,  petition,  urgency, 
thanksgiving.  These  four  elements,  at  least, 
ought,  therefore,  to  intertwine  in  all  our  acts  of 
prayer.  When  we  come  before  God,  we  should 
come  with  adoration  in  our  hearts  and  on  our  lips, 
with  thanksgiving  suffusing  all  our  being  for  His 
goodness  to  us,  and  making  known  our  desires 
with  that  earnestness  which  alone  can  justify  our 
bringing  them  to  Him. 

Next,  the  presuppositions  of  prayer.  Obviously 
they  are  the  presuppositions  of  subjective  religion. 
And  these  may  be  summed  up  in  the  existence. 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  433 

the  personality,  the  accessibility  and  the  contin- 
ued activity  of  God  in  the  world.  The  Scriptures 
themselves  tell  us  that  to  come  to  God  implies 
that  we  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  the  re- 
warder  of  those  who  diligently  seek  Him.  We 
must  really  believe  in  the  existence  of  God  and  in 
His  care  for  the  works  of  His  hands,  or  we  cannot 
pray  to  Him.  Not  only  then  cannot  the  atheist, 
or  the  agnostic,  or  the  pantheist,  pray;  nor  yet 
the  deist  or  the  fatalist.  But  neither  can  ad- 
herents of  many  a  variety  of  our  modern  thought 
which  baptizes  itself  with  the  Christian  name, 
pray  as  men  ought  to  pray.  I  have  particularly 
in  mind  in  saying  this,  on  the  one  hand,  those  ex- 
treme advocates  of  the  reign  of  law  in  external 
nature  who  love  to  call  themselves  either  spec- 
ulative theists  or  non-miraculous  Christians;  and 
on  the  other  those  extreme  advocates  of  the  au- 
tocracy of  the  human  will,  who  fancy  that  the 
whole  cause  of  liberty  is  bound  up  with  the  self- 
sufficiency  of  the  human  soul. 

The  one  of  these  would  forbid  us  to  pray  for  any 
external  want;  the  other  for  any  internal  effect  on 
the  soul.  So,  between  the  two,  they  would  take 
away  the  whole  sphere  of  prayer.  Unless  we 
should  prefer  wisely  to  look  at  it  from  the  oppo- 
site angle,  and  to  say  that  each  refutes  the  other, 
and  between  the  two  they  allow  us  the  whole 
sphere  of  prayer.  Certainly,  that  is  what  the 
Scriptures  do.     They  authorize,  or  rather  require, 


434  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

us  to  pray  both  for  external  and  internal  blessings; 
for  rain  and  drought  like  Elijah;  for  the  healing 
of  sickness  like  the  elders  of  the  Church;  for  the 
healing  of  sin-sick  souls  like  Christians  at  large. 
There  is,  no  doubt,  a  problem  of  how  God  an- 
swers prayers  for  external  effects ;  and  we  may  be 
chary  of  supposing  that  miracles  will  be  wrought 
when  special  providences  will  serve  the  end;  and 
there  is  a  problem  of  how  God  answers  prayer 
for  internal  changes  and  we  may  be  chary  of  sup- 
posing that  violence  is  done  to  our  nature,  when 
confluent  action  along  psychologically  indicated 
lines  will  suffice.  But  one  thing  we  must  hold 
firmly  to :  God  answers  prayer.  And  that  equally, 
and  equally  readily  and  equally  easily,  for  in- 
ternal and  for  external  things. 

Now,  the  conditions  of  acceptable  prayer.  Let 
us  study  here  the  simplicity  of  Scripture.  We 
need  not  multiply  conditions  where  the  Scriptures 
do  not  multiply  them.  And,  speaking  strictly, 
Scripture  knows  of  but  one  condition.  It  con- 
duces to  the  peace  and  comfort  of  our  souls  to 
remember  that  there  is  but  one  condition  to  ac- 
ceptable prayer.  It  is  easiest  and  best,  however, 
to  state  this  one  condition  in  a  twofold  manner: 
objectively  and  subjectively.  There  is  an  ob- 
jective condition  of  acceptable  prayer  and  there 
is  a  subjective  condition  of  acceptable  prayer. 
The  objective  condition  is  that  we  should  have  ac- 
cess to  God.     The  subjective  condition  is  that 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  435 

we  should  have  faith.  The  objective  and  sub- 
jective conditions  are  one,  because  it  is  only  in 
Jesus  Christ  that  we  have  access  to  God  and  only 
through  faith  that  we  are  in  Him. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  men  as  men — the 
creatures  of  God — you  and  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with.  You  and  I  are  not  men  as  men;  we  are 
sinners.  And  sinners  as  such  have  no  access  to 
God.  They  may  go  through  all  the  motions  of 
prayer,  no  doubt.  It  is  like  bodily  exercises  that 
profit  nothing;  one  might  as  will  turn  a  prayer 
wheel  like  the  Thibetans.  It  goes  no  higher  than 
our  own  heads.  For  this  is  of  the  very  essence  of 
sin — that  it  breaks  communion  with  God.  God 
is  deaf  to  the  sinner's  cry.  He  owes  the  sinner 
punishment,  not  favour.  In  Jesus  Christ  alone 
has  the  breach  between  God  and  sinful  man  been 
filled  in.  In  the  blood  of  His  sacrifice  only  can  we 
penetrate  within  the  veil.  In  Him  only,  as  Paul 
repeatedly  tells  us,  do  we  have  our  introduction 
into  the  Divine  presence.  All  prayer  that  is  ac- 
ceptable and  reaches  the  ears  of  God,  therefore, 
is  prayer  that  is  conveyed  to  Him  through  Jesus 
Christ.  For  sinners  the  atonement  of  Christ  lays 
the  only  basis  for  real  prayer. 

The  subjective  condition  is  faith;  and  faith  is 
the  sole  subjective  condition.  No  other  condi- 
tion is  ever  announced  in  Scripture.  And  the 
promises  to  faith  are  repeated,  emphatic  and  un- 
limited.   He  that  prays  in  faith  shall  surely  re- 


436  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

ceive.  For  faith  can  no  more  fail  in  prayer  than 
in  salvation;  and  if  faith  and  faith  alone  is  not 
the  only  but  all-sufficient  instrument  of  salvation, 
then  we  are  yet  in  our  sins  and  are  of  all  men  the 
most  miserable.  If  any  one  is  puzzled  by  so  un- 
limited a  promise,  let  him  reflect  what  faith  is  and 
whence  faith  comes.  If  faith  is  the  gift  of  God  in 
this  sphere,  too — as  assuredly  it  is — then  faith 
can  no  more  fail  than  the  God  who  gives  it  can 
fail.  Or  think  you  that  God  will  deceive  you  by 
working  faith  in  you  by  His  Holy  Spirit  when  He 
has  no  intention  of  correspondingly  blessing  you? 
Man-made  faith — that  might  fail;  for  that  is  no 
faith  at  all.  But  God-inspired  faith,  as  it  is  God 
within  you  working,  so  is  it  sure  to  find  God 
without  you  hearkening.  That  is  what  Paul  says 
in  that  great  passage  in  the  eighth  of  Romans 
about  the  Holy  Spirit  groaning  within  us  unutter- 
ably, and  God  knowing  the  mind  of  His  Spirit. 
It  is  possibly  also  what  James  says  in  our  present 
passage,  when  he  says  that  it  is  an  "energized 
prayer"  which  is  effective.  But  the  gist  of  the 
whole  matter  is  that  there  is  no  condition  of  suc- 
cessful prayer  but  faith. 

No  condition,  but  not  therefore  no  character- 
izing qualities,  which  are  always  present  where 
faithful  prayer  is;  and  the  presence  and  absence 
of  which  you  and  I  can  observe  as  marks  of  ac- 
acceptable  or  unacceptable  prayer.  These  are 
customarily  enumerated  as  sincerity,  reverence. 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  437 

humility,  importunity,  submission.  Many  more 
similar  characteristic  features  of  acceptable  prayer 
could  be  added.  We  need  not  dwell  on  these  in 
detail. 

Lastly,  the  effects  of  prayer.  These  too  are 
both  objective  and  subjective.  Which  are  the 
more  important.^  That  depends  very  much  on 
the  specific  exercises  of  prayer  which  we  have  in 
mind;  and  on  the  specific  things  we  pray  for, 
if  it  is  of  the  exercise  of  petition  that  we  are 
thinking. 

The  main  point  to  emphasize  is  that  prayer  has 
an  objective  effect.  It  terminates  on  God,  and 
does  not  merely  bound  back  like  a  boomerang 
upon  our  own  persons.  We  do  not  throw  it  up 
towards  the  heavens  to  have  it  do  nothing  but 
circle  back  to  smite  our  own  heads.  But  though 
this  is  to  be  mainly  insisted  upon,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  prayer  may  not  also  have  subjective 
effects;  or  that  these  subjective  effects  may  not 
be  of  unspeakable  importance  to  us;  or  even  that 
in  some  exercises  of  prayer,  they  may  not  be 
almost  the  most  important  of  its  effects.  If  the 
specific  exercise  of  prayer  in  which  we  are  engaged 
is  adoration  or  thanksgiving,  may  not  what  we 
call  its  subjective  effects  be  the  most  important.? 
No  doubt,  if  we  are  engaging  in  petition,  it  may 
be  different;  may  be  even  here,  not  must.  If  our 
petition  be,  Father,  hallowed  be  Thy  Name! — or, 
Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as 


438  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

in  heaven! — no  subjective  effects  can  compare 
with  the  objective  value  of  the  petition.  But 
suppose  the  petition  be,  "Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread!"  Or  for  some  lesser  blessing  "of  this 
life"!  Is  not  the  enjoyment  in  prayer  of  com- 
munion with  God  of  more  value  than  any  of  these 
things?  Let  us  bless  God  that  man  does  not  live 
by  bread  alone;  nay,  not  even  chiefly. 

If  we  seek  to  enumerate  the  benefits  obtained  by 
prayer,  then,  I  think  we  must  say  that  they  are, 
at  least,  threefold.  There  are  the  objective 
blessings  obtained  by  means  of  the  prayer  in  the 
answer  to  its  petitions.  There  is  the  blessing  that 
consists  in  the  very  act  of  prayer,  that  commu- 
nion with  God  which  is  the  highest  act  of  the  soul. 
There  are  the  blessings  that  arise  from  the  as- 
sumption in  prayer  of  the  proper  attitude  of  the 
creature,  especially  of  the  sinful  creature,  towards 
God.  Perhaps  these  last  alone  can  be  strictly 
called  purely  subjective.  The  first  we  may  speak 
of  as  purely  objective.  It  is  the  second  in  which 
the  highest  value  of  prayer  is  to  be  found. 

We  must  not  undervalue  the  purely  subjective 
or  reflex  effects  of  prayer.  They  are  of  the  high- 
est benefit  to  us.  Much  less  must  we  undervalue 
the  objective  effects  of  prayer.  In  them  lies  the 
specific  meaning  of  that  exercise  of  prayer  which 
we  call  petition.  But  the  heart  of  the  matter  hes 
in  every  case  in  the  communion  with  God  which 
the  soul  enjoys  in  prayer.     This  is  prayer  itself. 


PRAYER  AS  A  PRACTICE  439 

and  in  it  is  summed  up  what  is  most  blessed  in 
prayer.  If  it  be  man's  chief  end  to  glorify  God 
and  enjoy  Him  for  ever,  then  man  has  attained  his 
end,  the  sole  purpose  for  which  he  was  made,  the 
entire  object  for  which  he  exists,  when  he  enters 
into  communion  with  God,  abides  in  His  pres- 
ence, streaming  out  to  Him  in  all  the  emotions,  I 
do  not  say  appropriate  to  a  creature  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  Maker  and  Lord,  apprehended  by  him 
as  the  Good  Lord  and  Righteous  Ruler  of  the 
souls  of  men,  but  appropriate  to  the  sinner  who 
has  been  redeemed  by  the  blood  of  God's  own  Son 
and  is  inhabited  by  His  Spirit  and  apprehends 
his  Maker  as  also  his  Saviour,  his  Governor  as 
also  his  Lover,  and  knows  the  supreme  joy  of  him 
that  was  lost  and  is  found,  was  dead  and  is  alive 
again, — and  all,  through  the  glory  of  God's  seeking 
and  saving  love.  He  who  attains  to  this  experi- 
ence has  attained  all  that  is  to  be  attained.  He  is 
absorbed  in  the  beatific  vision.  He  that  sees  God 
shall  be  like  Him. 


GOD'S  HOLINESS  AND  OURS 

I  Pet.  1:15: — "But  like  as  He  which  called  you  is  holy,  be  ye 
yourselves  also  holy  in  all  manner  of  living." 

The  first  chapter  of  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter 
ranks  with  the  most  precious  in  the  Bible.  It 
opens  with  a  singularly  rich  and  beautiful  de- 
scription of  what  God  has  done  for  us,  and  of  the 
glory  of  that  salvation  which  He  has  provided. 
He  has  given  His  Son  to  die  and  rise  again  that  by 
His  resurrection  from  the  dead  He  might  beget  us 
anew  unto  a  lively  hope.  Though  we  may  have 
to  suffer  now  and  enter  not  yet  into  this  hope,  He 
Himself  preserves  for  us  the  hoped-for  inherit- 
ance, incorruptible  and  undefiled;  and  keeps  us 
by  His  power  for  it,  until  the  day  comes  when  we 
shall  enter  into  it.  This  glorious  salvation  He  had 
prepared  for  us,  indeed,  before  we  were  born, 
even  from  the  beginnings  of  the  ages,  annoimcing 
it  from  time  to  time  through  the  prophets  who 
well  knew  that  it  was  for  us  and  not  themselves 
that  they  ministered,  but  revealing  it  in  its  full 
glory  not  even  to  the  angels  as  it  has  now  been 
made  known  to  us.  Thus  Peter  makes  known  to 
his  readers  that  it  was  not  they  who  chose  God 
but  God  who  chose  them;  that  their  salvation  is 
not  dependent  on  their  own  effort  but  rests  on 
God's  almighty  power;    that  the  inheritance  for 

440 


GOD'S  HOLINESS  AND  OURS  441 

which  they  hope  in  the  end  is  not  such  an  one  as 
they  could  obtain  with  human  weakness,  but  such 
an  one  as  only  God  could  prepare — more  splendid 
than  prophets  could  tell,  more  glorious  than 
angels  could  imagine,  prepared  by  God  just  for  us 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  By  this  far-off 
glimpse  of  it,  Peter  would  quicken  our  hope  and 
awaken  our  love  and  gratitude  to  God. 

"Wherefore,"  he  adds, — turning  suddenly  from 
this  glorious  prospect  to  stir  us  up  to  make  this 
precious  inheritance  surely  our  own — "where- 
fore" see  to  it  that  you  enter  into  this  hope  and 
lay  such  hold  upon  it  that  it  cannot  slip  away.  As 
we  approach  the  text  for  the  day,  thus,  we  pass 
from  the  contemplation  of  the  glorious  inheritance 
of  the  saints  to  the  most  earnest  exhortations  to 
make  our  calling  sure.  Peter  admonishes  us  by 
the  greatness  of  the  hope  that  is  set  before  us,  in 
other  words,  to  a  mode  of  life  conformable  to  it. 
We  must  gird  up  the  loins  of  our  minds,  be  sober 
and  set  our  hope  perfectly  on  this  grace  that  is  to 
be  brought  to  us  at  the  revelation  of  our  Lord. 
It  is  ready  for  us;  it  is  kept  in  store  for  us  in 
heaven;  when  Christ  comes  it  will  come  with  Him. 
Would  we  be  meet  for  its  reception?  How  then 
shall  we  be  made  meet  for  it?  We  are  told  first 
negatively  and  then  positively. 

Christ  is  our  King  and  to  Him  we  owe  our  duty. 
Not  with  eye  service  only;  not  with  grudging 
honour;  but  as  the  very  children  of  obedience  we 


442  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

must  offer  Him  our  willing  service.  And  this 
service  which  He  demands  of  us  is  summed  up 
broadly  in  the  negative  rule  that  we  must  be  sep- 
arated wholly  from  our  former  evil  desires  which 
we  followed  in  the  days  of  our  ignorance,  before 
He  recalled  Himself  to  us  and  made  known  to  us 
what  a  glorious  inheritance  He  had  for  us.  Chil- 
dren of  the  flesh,  born  in  the  flesh,  we  have  lived 
according  to  the  lusts  of  the  flesh;  for  who  is  there 
that  sins  not?  But  now  that  the  eyes  of  our 
hearts  have  been  opened  that  we  may  see  what  it 
is  that  we  have  done,  and  that  we  may  know  the 
evil  that  we  have  wrought,  we  must  turn  away 
from  evil.  This  is  the  negative  rule  of  life.  But 
mere  negation  brings  us  nowhere.  To  separate 
from  sin  is  not  enough;  we  must  go  on  to  positive 
holiness;  "like  as  He  which  called  you  is  holy, 
become  ye  also  yourselves  holy  in  all  manner 
of  living.'*     Here  is  the  positive  rule  of  life. 

Now  let  us  look  at  this  precept  somewhat  more 
closely.  Doing  so  we  will  observe  (1)  what  it 
is  that  we  are  exhorted  to  become — holy;  (2) 
in  what  we  are  to  become  holy — in  every  manner 
of  living;  and  (3)  to  what  degree  we  are  to  become 
holy  in  all  our  life  and  all  its  activities, — as  holy  as 
God  Himself  is.  In  other  words,  we  may  ob- 
serve here  (1)  that  God  draws  back  the  veil  and 
exhibits  His  own  holiness  to  His  children;  (2)  that 
He  makes  His  hoHness  the  incitement  to  them  to 
become  holy  also;  (3)  that  He  holds  His  own  holi- 


GOD'S  HOLINESS  AND  OURS  443 

ness  forth  as  the  standard  of  the  holiness  which 
they  must  strive  to  attain;  and  (4)  that  He  ac- 
tually proposes  to  share  this  His  highest  attri- 
bute with  us. 

Observe,  then,  first,  that  God  here  proclaims 
His  own  holiness  and  so  exhibits  this  His  crown 
and  glory  to  His  children;  "like  as  He  which 
called  you  is  holy" — "for  I  am  holy."  What, 
then,  do  we  mean  when  we  speak  of  the  "holi- 
ness" of  God?  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves 
with  the  derivation  of  the  Hebrew  word,  although, 
no  doubt,  its  etymological  sense  of  division,  sepa- 
ration from,  is  conformable  with  its  usage.  The 
usage  of  the  word,  which  is  applied  primarily  to 
God,  and  only  afterwards  and  secondarily  to  those 
that  belong  to  Him, — especially  if  we  will  observe 
its  contrasts — clearly  indicates  as  its  central  idea 
that  of  separation;  and  specifically  separation 
from  the  world  conceived  of  as  a  sinful  world. 
When  we  call  God  holy,  then,  the  central  idea  in 
our  minds  concerns  His  absolute  and  complete 
separation  from  sin  and  uncleanness.  Not  that 
the  idea  has  this  negative  form  as  it  lies  in  our 
minds.  There  is  no  idea  so  positive  as  that  of 
holiness;  it  is  the  very  climax  of  positiveness. 
But  it  is  hard  to  express  this  positiveness  in  a 
definite  way,  simply  because  this  idea  is  above  the 
ideas  expressed  by  its  synonyms.  It  is  more  than 
sinlessness,  though  it,  of  course,  includes  the  idea 
of  sinlessness.     It   is   more   than   righteousness, 


444  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

although  again  it  includes  the  idea  of  righteous- 
ness. It  is  more  than  wholeness,  complete  sound- 
ness and  integrity  and  rightness,  though,  of  course, 
again  it  includes  these  ideas.  It  is  more  than 
simpleness,  high  simplicity  and  guilelessness, 
though  it  includes  this  too.  It  is  more  than 
purity,  though,  of  course,  it  includes  this  too. 
Holiness  includes  all  these  and  more.  It  is  God's 
whole,  entire,  absolute,  inconceivable  and,  there- 
fore, unexpressible  completeness  and  perfection  of 
separation  from  and  opposition  to  and  ineffable 
revulsion  from  all  that  is  in  any  sense  or  degree, 
however  small,  evil.  We  fall  back  at  last  on  this 
negative  description  of  it  just  because  language 
has  no  positive  word  which  can  reach  up  to  the 
unscaleable  heights  of  this  one  highest  word,  holi- 
ness. It  is  the  crown  of  God  as  mercy  is  His 
treasure;  as  grace  is  His  riches,  this  is  His  glory. 
Who  is  like  unto  God,  glorious  in  holiness? 

Such  is  the  challenge  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
safely  might  it  be  given.  The  holiness  of  God  is  a 
conception  peculiar  to  the  religion  of  the  Bible. 
None  of  the  gods  of  the  nations  was  like  unto  our 
God  in  this,  the  crown  and  climax  of  His  glory. 
But  it  is  just  this  His  ineffable  perfection  that  He 
calls  us  to  imitate.  It  is  just  the  exhibition  of 
this  His  glory  that  He  trusts  to  quicken  an  un- 
quenchable thirst  in  us  to  be  like  Him.  For  ob- 
serve, secondly,  that  it  is  by  this  exhibition  of 
His  holiness  that  God  incites  us  to  holiness.    "Like 


GOD'S  HOLINESS  AND  OURS  445 

as  He  which  called  you  is  holy,  become  ye  also 
yourselves  holy."  "Ye  shall  be  holy  for  I  am 
holy."  God  exhibits  His  glory  to  us  for  our 
imitation  and  expects  the  sight  of  the  beauty  of 
holiness  in  Him  to  beget  in  us  an  inextinguishable 
longing  to  be  like  Him.  Holiness  is  a  dread  at- 
tribute. Reverence  and  awe  attend  its  exhibi- 
tion. Who  can  look  upon  the  holy  God  and  not 
tremble?  To  the  sinful  man,  no  words  so  quickly 
spring  to  the  lips  when  he  is  brought  in  sight  of 
holiness  as  "Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful 
man,  O  Lord!"  It  is  pre-eminently  the  holiness 
of  God  which  constitutes  the  terror  of  the  Lord, 
and  as  often  as  He  appears  to  men  we  read  the 
record  that  they  feared  a  great  fear.  Does  its 
contemplation  not  silence  our  tongues  and  abase 
our  hearts  rather  than  rouse  our  endeavours  and 
quicken  our  efforts.^  It  is  but  too  true  that  sin 
and  holiness  are  antagonistic  and  that  holiness 
hates  sin  no  less  truly  than  sin  hates  holiness. 
Sinful  man  cannot  be  incited  to  holy  activity  by 
the  sight  of  holiness;  it  begets  no  longing  in  his 
heart  except  a  longing  to  hide  himself  away  from 
it.  When  Adam  sinned,  he  no  longer  wished  to 
meet  God  in  the  garden. 

The  very  fact  of  the  proposal  of  God  to  show  us 
His  holiness  as  an  incitement  to  holiness  in  us 
means  something,  then,  of  infinite  importance  to 
our  souls.  It  means  that  we  are  no  longer  averse 
to  all  that  is  good;   no  longer  God's  enemies  but 


446  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

His  friends.  Peter  is  addressing  here  not  man  as 
man  but  Christian  men  as  Christian  men.  Those 
to  whom  he  speaks  have  been  bought  with  a  price, 
have  been  begotten  anew  unto  a  lively  hope  by  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead.  As  God's 
sons  they  are  already  like  God,  and  he  only  ex- 
horts them  to  become  more  like  Him.  It  is  only 
as  God's  sons  that  they  could  be  attracted  by  the 
exhibition  of  His  holiness ;  it  is  only  as  God's  sons 
that  they  could  find  in  it  an  incitement;  it  is  only 
^.s  such  that  they  can  hope  to  attain  it.  And  it  is 
just  because  we  are  God's  sons  that  the  exhorta- 
tion is  necessary  to  us.  If  we  are  to  call  on  Him 
as  Father  we  must  vindicate  our  right  to  use  that 
ennobling  name  by  living  as  His  children.  Thus 
the  very  proposal  of  God  to  incite  us  to  holiness  by 
the  exhibition  of  His  holiness  to  us,  is  itself  an 
encouragement  to  and  a  pledge  of  our  attainment 
of  it.  He  expects  us  to  see  and  to  feel  the  beauty 
of  holiness  and  that  means  that  He  has  already 
recreated  our  hearts. 

Thus  we  observe,  thirdly,  that  God  not  only  ex- 
hibits His  holiness  here  as  an  incitement  to  us,  but 
also  reveals  to  us  by  that  act  His  gracious  and 
loving  purpose  with  us.  We  see  God  here  not 
calling  us  up  to  seek  communion  with  Him  in  our 
own  strength;  but  rather  stooping  down  that  He 
may  raise  us  to  that  communion.  For  let  us  ob- 
serve that  it  is,  after  all,  communion  with  Him 
to  which  He  has  summoned  us.     There  can  be  no 


GOD'S  HOLINESS  AND  OURS  447 

communion  between  the  holy  and  the  sinful.  He 
is  here  beseeching  us  to  hold  communion  with 
Him,  and  He  is  providing  the  way  by  which  it  may 
be  consummated.  The  Holy  God  has  by  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead  begotten  us 
again  into  a  living  hope  and  here  He  holds  out  to 
this  already  formed  hope  the  incitement  of  the 
sight  of  His  holiness  as  the  goal  to  which  we  must 
strive  to  attain. 

It  is  not  unadvisedly  that  we  say  that  His  hoh- 
ness  is  here  exhibited  as  the  goal  to  which  we  must 
seek  to  attain.  For  not  only  is  it  in  the  text  the 
incitement,  but  also  the  standard  of  the  holiness 
for  which  we  are  to  strive.  We  are  to  become 
holy  as  God  is  holy.  Of  course  the  finite  cannot 
attain  the  infinite.  But  as  the  asymptote  of  the 
hyperbola  ever  approaches  it  but  never  attains,  so 
we  are  eternally  to  approach  this  high  and  perfect 
standard.  Ever  above  us,  the  holiness  of  God 
yet  is  ever  more  and  more  closely  approached  by 
us;  and  as  the  unending  aeons  of  eternity  pass  by 
we  shall  grow  ever  more  and  more  towards  that 
ever-beckoning  standard.  That  is  our  high  des- 
tiny and  it  is  not  unfitly  described  as  partaking  in 
the  Divine  Nature. 


CHILDSHIP  TO  GOD 

1  Jno.  2:28-3:3,  especially  3:1: — "Behold  what  manner  of  love 
the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be  called  chil- 
dren of  God:  and  such  we  are." 

The  conception  of  the  divine  birth  as  the  root 
of  the  Christian  Hfe  is  a  specially  Johannean  one. 
Not  that  the  other  New  Testament  writers  do 
not  also  teach  all  that  is  expressed  by  the  term 
"regeneration."  But  that  they  teach  it  prevail- 
ingly under  other  figures,  such  as  those  of  a  re- 
pristination,  a  new  creation,  and  the  like.  The 
Johannean  expressions,  "to  be  born  again,"  "be- 
gotten of  God,"  do  not  occur  at  all,  for  example,  in 
Paul,  whose  use  in  a  single  passage  of  a  similar 
term  only  serves  to  bring  out  the  contrast.  There 
is  a  corresponding  difference  in  the  use  by  Paul 
and  John  of  the  conception  of  childship  or  sonship 
to  God.  In  accordance  with  his  juridical  point  of 
view,  Paul  speaks  of  sonship  as  conferred  by  adop- 
tion, and  thinks  of  our  acquisition  of  the  rights  and 
the  inheritance  of  sons.  In  accordance  with  his 
essential  point  of  view,  John  speaks  of  childship  as 
conveyed  through  birth  and  thinks  of  growing  up 
into  the  likeness  of  God.  Accordingly  Paul  pre- 
fers the  term  "sons."  We  are  adults  received  by 
God's  grace  into  the  number  of  His  sons.  And 
John  prefers  the  term  "children"  or  even  "Httle 

448 


CHILDSHIP  TO  GOD  449 

children."  We  are  born  into  the  family  of  God  as 
the  infants  of  His  household. 

This  difference  in  the  use  of  the  conception  of 
childship  is  not  a  difference  of  doctrine;  it  is  only 
a  difference  in  the  illustrative  use  of  the  concep- 
tion of  childship  in  the  setting  forth  of  doctrine. 
It  will  not  do  to  say  on  its  ground  that  John 
teaches  that  our  sonship  to  God  is  due  to  regener- 
ation and  Paul  that  it  is  due  to  justification.  It 
will  not  be  accurate  even  to  say  that  John  em- 
phasizes regeneration  and  Paul  justification.  What 
is  true  is  that  Paul  has  adopted  the  conception  of 
sonship  to  illustrate  the  title  to  life  and  holiness 
which  we  obtain  through  justification,  and  John 
to  illustrate  the  communication  of  a  new  principle 
of  holy  life  to  us  in  regeneration.  Paul  uses  it  of 
an  objective  fact,  John  of  a  subjective  one.  Paul, 
to  point  us  to  what  becomes  ours  through  the  work 
of  Christ  without  us;  John,  to  what  is  made  ours 
by  the  working  of  Christ  within  us.  It  would  lead 
to  confusion  to  treat  the  several  passages  in  John 
and  Paul  as  if  they  were  teaching  us  the  same  son- 
ship  to  God.  It  would  lead  to  even  greater  con- 
fusion to  suppose  that  because  they  illustrate 
different  portions  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by 
the  same  figure,  they  teach  a  different  doctrine  of 
salvation, — one  by  the  Christ  without  us,  the 
other  by  the  Christ  within  us. 

Perhaps  no  passage  could  be  pitched  upon  which 
would  more  richly  and  completely  than  that  be- 


450  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

fore  us  outline  to  us  John's  presentation  of  his 
doctrine  of  ehildship  to  God,  begun  in  regeneration 
and  growing  up  in  ever-increasing  sanctification 
to  its  goal  of  likeness  to  God.  It  may  repay  us  to 
run  over  the  points  of  doctrine  that  emerge  in 
the  course  of  these  five  verses. 

First  then  we  are  to  observe  that  the  ehildship 
of  God  of  which  John  teaches  us — as  truly  as  the 
sonship  to  God  of  which  Paul  teaches  us — is  not 
a  natural  but  a  graciously  conferred  relation. 
Neither  in  John's  sense  nor  in  Paul's  sense,  nor  in 
the  sense  of  any  New  Testament  writer,  can  we 
speak  of  a  universal  Fatherhood  of  God.  The 
idea  of  the  All-Father  is  rather  a  heathen  than  a 
Christian  notion;  that  is  to  say  it  is  a  conception 
belonging  to  the  sphere  of  natural  religion,  voicing 
the  yearning  of  the  human  heart  to  find  in  its  Cre- 
ator and  Ruler  something  more  than  a  Master  or  a 
Sovereign  Lord.  It  contains  no  more  Biblical 
truth  than  arises  from  the  fact  that  according  to 
the  Bible  we  are  like  God  in  so  far  as  by  our  first 
creation  we  were  made  in  His  image;  He  is  in  this 
sense  the  Father  of  our  spirits.  For  from  the  Bib- 
lical point  of  view,  sonship  presents  primarily  the 
idea  of  likeness.  Therefore,  the  bad  are  the  sons 
of  Belial  and  the  good  are  the  sons  of  God;  and 
the  high  name  of  the  children  of  God  is,  from  Gen- 
esis to  Revelation,  reserved  for  those  whose  like- 
ness to  Him  extends  beyond  the  mere  natural 
fact  that  they  have  a  spiritual  nature  similar  to 


CHILDSHIP  TO  GOD  451 

God's,  to  the  moral  fact  that  they  have  a  spirit- 
ual character  like  God's. 

Holiness  of  heart,  not  immateriality  of  essence, 
is  the  ground  in  the  Scriptural  view  of  Divine  son- 
ship.  And  as  men  are  by  nature  not  holy  but 
wicked,  they  are  naturally  the  sons  of  the  Devil, 
the  sons  of  wrath.  Sons  of  God  they  can  become 
only  by  an  act  of  Divine  mercy.  The  idea  of  the 
universal  Fatherhood  of  God  represents  therefore, 
from  the  Biblical  point  of  view,  what  God  would 
fain  have  been  when  He  made  man  in  His  own 
image,  creating  him  in  righteousness  and  true  holi- 
ness; what  God  still  fain  would  be;  not  what  God 
is.  He  is  in  the  Biblical  sense,  the  Father  only 
of  those  who  are  renewed  unto  holiness.  So  John 
puts  it;  so  Paul  puts  it.  Paul  exhorts  his  readers 
to  "do  all  things  without  murmurings  and  dis- 
putings,  that  they  may  be  blameless  and  harmless, 
children  of  God,  without  blemish":  and  John  in 
our  present  passage  represents  only  those  who  do 
righteousness  as  the  children  of  God. 

To  John  then,  as  we  say,  as  to  Paul  and  to  the 
whole  New  Testament,  childship  to  God  is  not  a 
natural  but  a  graciously  constituted  relation. 
It  is  so  in  our  passage,  "Behold  what  manner  of 
love  the  Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we 
should  be  called  the  children  of  God."  It  is  a 
matter  of  bestowment;  it  is  a  gift.  And  it  is  an 
undeserved  and  unmerited  gift.  John  cries  out 
in  wonder  and  surprised  gratitude  at  the  love — 


452  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

not  only  the  greatness,  but  the  high  quality  of  the 
love — which  God  bestowed  on  us,  with '  the  in- 
tent of  having  us  called  children  of  God:  "Be- 
hold, what  manner  of  love  the  Father  hath  be- 
stowed upon  us  to  the  end  that  we  should  be 
called  children  of  God."  And  then  his  feelings 
overcome  him  as  he  contemplates  this  great,  this 
indescribable,  kind  of  love,  and  he  adds,  not  as 
part  of  the  statement  but  as  an  unrestrainable  com- 
ment on  the  statement,  "and  such  we  are."  The 
words  themselves  point  out  the  ineffable  mercy 
and  love  of  God  in  making  us — such  as  we — chil- 
dren of  God.  But  these  two  words  of  comment  of 
the  responding  heart  of  the  beloved  disciple  pierce 
even  deeper  into  our  souls.  As  he  declares  the 
Father's  love  in  making  us  His  children,  he  cannot 
help  jubilating  over  the  blessed  fact.  "It  is 
true,"  he  cries,  "it  is  true!"  "And  we  are."  As- 
suredly, to  him  this  is  no  natural  relation.  We 
are  the  children  of  God  only  by  the  ineffable  love 
of  God,  constituting  us  sons.  It  is  not  a  thing 
we  have  by  nature  but  of  grace;  it  is  not  a  thing 
to  which  we  are  born  as  men,  but  to  which  we  are 
born  again  as  Christians;  it  is  not  a  thing  to  which 
all  are  born,  but  only  those  who  are  born  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of 
man,  but  of  God. 

It  is  as  clear  as  day,  then,  that  this  childship  to 
God,  of  which  John  teaches  us,  is  not  a  product 
of  our  own  endeavours;  it  is  a  gift,  a  free  favour, 


CHLIDSHIP  TO  GOD  453 

from  God;  and  it  has  its  root  in  the  ineffable  and 
indescribable  and  sovereign  love  of  God.  "Be- 
hold what  manner  of  love  the  Father  has  be- 
stowed upon  us  that  we  should  be  called  the  sons 
of  God."  We  have  not  earned  it;  the  Father  has 
given  it;  not  paid  it  to  us  as  our  just  due  for  effort 
made,  labour  performed,  righteousness  practised; 
but  given  it  to  us  out  of  His  free  and  inexplicable 
love;  not  out  of  His  justice  but  out  of  His  incom- 
prehensible love.  It  is  a  sovereign  gift.  So  the 
New  Testament  everywhere  and  under  all  its 
figures  represents  it;  so  John  always  represents  it. 
And  it  is  therefore  that  he  sings  paeans  to  God's 
love  on  account  of  it.  "Behold!"  "What  man- 
ner of  love  is  this!"  "To  seek  us  out  and  make  us 
the  sons  of  God!"  Language  could  not  convey 
more  clearly,  more  powerfully,  the  conception  of 
the  absolute  sovereignty  of  the  gift  of  childship 
to  God.  Elsewhere  it  is  conveyed  more  didac- 
tically, more  analytically;  here  it  is  conveyed 
emotionally.  Elsewhere  we  are  told  that  it  came 
not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the 
will  of  man,  but  of  God;  here  we  have  the  answer- 
ing thrill  of  gratitude  of  the  human  heart  at  this 
unexpected,  undeserved  gift.  Elsewhere  the  sov- 
ereignty is  asserted,  explained;  here  it  is  ac- 
knowledged, honoured.  Elsewhere  it  is  claimed, 
here  it  is  yielded,  admired,  glorified. 

But  the  passage  gives  us  not  merely  the  origin 
and  source  of  our  childship  to  God  in  His  love — 


454  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

free,  and  freely  giving  us  this  great  benefit;  it 
points  out  to  us  the  evidence  of  its  reality.  Though 
we  cannot  purchase  it  by  our  righteousness,  it  is 
freely  bestowed,  it  yet  evidences  itself  through 
righteousness.  It  is  not  by  righteousness  that  we 
obtain  it;  but  only  the  righteous  have  it.  As  it  is 
sonship  to  the  righteous  God  that  is  conferred; 
as  sonship  implies  likeness ;  it  follows  that  the  test 
of  such  a  sonship  having  been  conferred  is  the 
presence  of  the  likeness,  the  presence  of  the  right- 
eousness. Accordingly  we  read:  "If  ye  know 
that  He  is  righteous,  ye  know  that  every  one  also 
that  doeth  righteousness  is  born  of  Him."  This  is 
the  test.  None  but  the  righteous  are  sons  of  God. 
The  Apostle  does  not  say.  None  but  the  righteous 
can  become  the  sons  of  God.  Then  it  would  not 
be  true  that  the  sonship  is  a  free  gift  of  ineffable, 
sovereign  love.  But  he  does  say  that  none  but 
the  righteous  are  the  sons  of  God. 

This  is,  indeed,  essential  to  his  point  of  view, 
that  sonship  hangs  on  an  inward  fact.  Paul,  too, 
teaches  the  same  doctrine  even  though  he  is 
looking  upon  sonship  as  a  juridical  fact.  For  God 
leaves  none  of  those  whom  He  constitutes  His 
sons  by  adoption  without  the  Spirit  of  sonship  in 
their  hearts,  crying  Abba,  Father;  and  only  those 
who  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God  are  sons  of  God. 
But  much  more  will  John,  who  is  thinking  of  re- 
generation rather  than  justification,  under  the 
figure  of  sonship,  teach  the  same.     Only  he  who 


CHILDSHIP  TO  GOD  455 

doeth  righteousness  can  really  be  begotten  of  the 
Righteous  One.  That  we  do  righteousness  be- 
comes thus  the  test  and  evidence  of  our  sonship. 
Begetting  is  the  implanting  of  a  seed  of  life,  and 
it  is  the  very  nature  of  life  to  live,  that  is,  to  man- 
ifest its  essential  nature  in  outward  activities. 
But  the  seed  implanted  in  this  begetting  is  the 
seed  of  holy  living;  how  can  it  be  said  to  be  there 
if  it  is  not  manifested  in  holy  living?  It  is  of  the 
very  nature  of  the  thing  that  only  those  who  do 
righteousness  can  have  been  begotten  by  the 
Righteous  God  unto  newness  of  life. 

But  is  not  John  then  blending  regeneration 
with  sanctification.f^  If  none  is  born  of  God — 
regenerated — unless  he  doeth  righteousness,  is 
not  this  to  say  that  by  the  mystical  act  of  being 
begotten  of  God — regeneration — a  man  must  be 
made  holy,  and  unless  he  has  been  made  holy,  he 
is  not  born  of  God.^  Yes,  and  no.  For  John, 
while  insisting  that  no  one  is  born  of  God  who  does 
not  do  righteousness,  does  not  represent  him  as 
having  already  in  his  new  birth  attained  his  goal. 
An  infant  is  not  a  full-grown  man.  Nor  is  he  who 
is  born  of  God  already  perfected  in  likeness  to 
God.  John,  too,  represents  this  as  a  growth. 
He  asserts  that  only  those  who  do  righteousness 
are  the  children  of  God;  but  he  claims  to  be  him- 
self— ^he  claims  that  his  readers  are — already  chil- 
dren of  God.  "And  such  we  are."  "Are"— 
already.     "Beloved,  now  we  are  children  of  God." 


456  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

Does  he  claim  perfected  righteousness  for  himself 
or  them?  "If  we  say  that  we  have  no  sin,  we 
deceive  ourselves  and  the  truth  is  not  in  us."  Yet 
throughout  our  passage,  and  beyond,  he  insists 
with  iterated  emphasis  that  the  mark  of  the  child 
of  God  is  that  he  does  righteousness,  and  that  he 
who  does  sin  is  of  the  devil.  There  is  no  contra- 
diction here.  John,  too,  knows  the  root  and  the 
tree;  the  flower  and  the  fruit.  He,  no  more  than 
Paul,  claims  to  be  already  perfect.  Even  the 
infant  is  like  his  father;  and  whoever  is  born  of 
God  does  righteousness  like  the  Righteous  Father, 
though  he  does  it  like  an  infant,  with  many  a 
false  step,  with  many  a  fall.  He  must,  like  other 
infants,  grow  up  and  learn  to  walk  in  the  new  path. 
And  so  John  in  our  passage  does  not  look  upon 
the  new  birth  as  all;  he  expects  a  growth  and 
promises  it.  "Beloved,  we  are  already  children 
of  God" — his  readers,  after  that  formulated  test 
of  doing  righteousness,  needed  assurance  of  it; 
"we  are  already  children  of  God."  "And  it  is 
not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall  be" — not 
yet  made  manifest!  The  completed  righteousness 
is  not  yet  present — "we  know  that  if  He  shall  be 
manifested,  we  shall  be  like  Him  for  we  shall  see 
Him  as  He  is."  Ah,  here  is  the  goal  on  which 
John  sets  his  eyes!  We  have  not  yet  the  per- 
fected likeness  to  our  Righteous  Father,  merely 
because  we  are  born  of  God;  we  must  grow  up  to 
be  altogether  like  Him.     It  is  a  process;  a  growth; 


CHILDSHIP  TO  GOD  457 

only  when  the  infant  becomes  a  man,  is  the  like- 
ness complete. 

And,  therefore,  the  Apostle  has  an  exhortation 
for  us  as  well  as  an  instruction.  We  have  re- 
ceived in  our  new  birth  the  germ  of  our  new  life 
of  righteousness;  but  we  have  not  received  in  it 
that  whole  new  life  in  perfection.  God  never 
intended  to  carry  us  to  the  skies  on  flowery  beds 
of  ease.  The  righteousness  that  we  are  to  do  does 
not  consist  in  that;  it  does  not  rest  unless  and 
until  it  is  done,  done  in  spite  of  temptation,  in 
conquest  of  evil.  And  so  John  points  our  eyes  to 
the  completed  fruit  of  our  endeavours — true,  de- 
veloped likeness  to  God — as  the  goal  of  effort, 
and  adds  his  exhortation.  Are  we  born  of  God? 
Is  the  germ  within  us.?  What  a  glory!  But  what 
a  glory  there  is  stretching  yet  beyond!  Devel- 
oped likeness  to  God!  "And  every  one  having 
this  hope  within  him,  purifieth  himself  even  as  He 
is  pure."  Here  is  John's  prescription  for  the  life 
of  the  sons  of  God.  Let  us  take  it  to  heart  and 
live  by  it. 

Perhaps,  then,  we  may  sum  up  by  saying  that 
in  this  pregnant  passage  John  gives  us : 

(1)  The  root  of  childship  to  God  in  God's  in- 
effable love. 

(2)  The  creation  of  children  of  God  through 
God's  sovereign  power. 

(3)  The  evidence  of  childship  to  God  in  the  doing 
of  righteousness. 


458  FAITH  AND  LIFE 

(4)  The  hope  of  the  children  of  God,  developed 
likeness  to  God. 

(5)  The  duty  of  the  children  of  God,  to  purify 
themselves  as  God  is  pure. 

(6)  The  end  of  the  children  of  God — ^the  as  yet 
unmanifested  glory  of  perfect  assimilation  to 
their  Father's  character. 


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Theological  Seminary-Speer  Lit 


1    1012  01035  0744 


